The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday slammed the Delhi government over its new liquor policy.
Senior party leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani, National Vice President and Delhi In-Charge, Baijayant Panda addressed a virtual rally demanding the closure of liquor outlets near schools, temples and other religious non-permissible' locations.
Irani took a dig at the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government by accusing it of making profits by playing with the health and life of people. “They can go to any lengths for commission,” she charged.
Addressing the rally, Panda said, “Delhi’s new Excise policy has been introduced to ruin the National Capital. The Delhi government has allotted as many as three liquor licences in every Ward. Delhi govt’s greed doesn’t stop here. It even went on to open liquor shops near religious places and housing societies as well.”
He added, “The Kejriwal government had proposed to open 850 liquor shops in the National Capital. However, after facing severe backlash from the people, around 300 shops were either closed or could not open.”
The BJP National VP said," No new hospital could be built in last eight years, but 850 liquor shop licences were liberally distributed in the city. I have never seen such a fondness for liquor shops anywhere."
As part of the rally, giant LED screens have been put up at over 500 places across the Capital city. At each place, about 250 people were present and connected with others in the massive rally.
As per reports, the municipal corporation in Delhi, ruled by the BJP, has taken action against several liquor shops, sealing the premises over alleged violations of the Master Plan.
Both the BJP, which has been ruling the municipal corporations for 15 straight years, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in the Delhi government, were sparring over issues and indulging in a tug of war ahead of the civic polls scheduled in April 2022.