Youth Congress workers stage a protest near the official residence of Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh with a currency note counting machine alleging corruption and demanding his resignation, in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. | Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA
The cash-counting machine trope has reappeared from political oblivion to bedevil Kerala politics after a hiatus of eight years.
In 2016, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) employed it as a metaphor for liquor policy-related “corruption” in the then-Oommen Chandy government. The political consequences were considerable. The LDF agitation cost two United Democratic Front (UDF) Ministers their Cabinet berths, though the consequent anti-corruption inquiry came to nought.
Seeks resignation
On Monday, the UDF repurposed the incriminating trope that plagued the Oommen Chandy government to turn the tables on the LDF. Flaunting a note-counting machine, Youth Congress workers marched to Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh’s official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, demanding his resignation and evoking a sense of political Deja Vu.
The UDF has accused the government of dangling the prospect of lifting dry days and extending bar timings as a quid pro quo for sizeable backhanders from the liquor lobby. The Opposition also aspired to prepare the field for a stormy Assembly session and a protracted season of street agitations in tit-for-tat harkening back to 2016.
Accusations and denials flew thick for the second consecutive day on Monday. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan attempted to portray Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas as the architect of the “scheme to milk bar owners.”
He alleged that the Tourism department had proposed a “permissive” liquor policy at a meeting of stakeholders. Mr. Satheesan said a bar association office-bearer’s leaked voice note urging members to raise ₹20 crore as a bribe to sway government policy emerged in the public domain soon after.
Mr. Riyas has denied the accusation.
Bharatiya Janata Party State president K. Surendran accused the LDF government of copying Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s excise policy to rake in bribes from the liquor lobby.
The government has pushed back firmly. It has perceived a plot to besmirch the administration and erode public trust in the LDF’s policymaking.
Chief Secretary V. Venu deemed reports that the government would lift dry days and tweak the liquor policy as patently misleading. He denounced the attempt to attribute ulterior motives and read unintended meanings into a routine online meeting with stakeholders to improve the State’s fiscal situation and streamline the government’s ease of doing business agenda.
