Hyderabad: The TRS and the Congress, the major political players in poll-bound Telangana, have refrained from taking a public stand so far on the BJP’s proposal in its yet-to-be released manifesto to restrict sale of liquor in the state.
“How can I comment on somebody else’s manifesto?” a senior Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader responded when asked for his party’s view on the BJP’s assurance.
Another TRS leader noted that the BJP was yet to officially release the manifesto and added that the party may comment after it’s actually unveiled.
While officially the Congress was yet to react, a key party functionary said he welcomed the proposal on a personal level but pointed to revenue collection implications for the State.
“This government has taken the revenue from liquor sales from '8,000 crore per annum to Rs 20,000 crore in the last four and half years.
If liquor sales are curbed, it will hurt the State economy, draining its resources to a significant extent,” he said.
CPI national general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy was dismissive about the BJP’s proposal. “They are not going to come to power any way. What’s the purpose of making such a statement. These are empty statements like their national manifesto like 15 lakh rupees for each family promised by Narendra Modi,” Reddy said.
