Even as the party high command is racking its brains on how to revive the electoral fortunes of the Congress in the state in the aftermath of its humiliating defeat in the just concluded bypolls, none other than the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Botcha Satyanarayana appears to have decided to revive his sniping at Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy once again on the “liquor issue”.
Botcha, who has been unhappy about his name being dragged into the liquor syndicate controversy has now started demanding total prohibition of liquor in the state, seemingly to put the chief minister in a fix at a time when the government is striving for more financial resources to carry out ongoing welfare schemes.
The APCC chief told reporters at Gandhi Bhavan here recently that it was better to impose a total ban on all sorts of liquor. When pointed out that total prohibition would create financial troubles for the cash-strapped government, he said, government should not see the issue from revenue point of view like a businessman.
It may be recalled here that the recent raids by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the state on the liquor cartels and subsequent arrests of liquor traders across the state widened the gulf between Kiran Reddy and Botcha, as the APCC chief thought that the chief minister had tried to implicate him in the liquor scam as his family has had 27 per cent share in 37 liquor shops in north Andhra till recently.
Meanwhile, the serving of legal notice to the then ACB SIT chief K Srinivasa Reddy by ACB inspector Ganesh for abusing him and asking him to send a report damning Botcha in connection with illegal liquor business in Vizianagaram district, further widened the gulf between Kiran Reddy and the APCC chief.
In wake of the liquor syndicate controversy, the state government introduced a new excise policy in which it bid adieu to the auction system and re-introduced the fixed license fee model based on population. The method of selection for grant of shop licences in this new policy is by way of “draw of lots”.
Liquor has been one of the main money-spinners for the state government. In the form of license fee (retail shops) alone, the state government earned `6,990 crore for 2010-11, a ten-fold increase from a mere `620 crore in 2005-06 when the auction system was introduced. Another `500 crore is earned in the form of annual license fee from bars. The income from sale of liquor through the AP Beverages Corporation, the government arm that is into wholesale trade, is estimated to be around `18,000 crore per annum.
As the government switched over from the auction system to fixed license free model, the cash-strapped state government is facing a financial crunch now. Things will get worse if the demand for total prohibition receives momentum.
Meanwhile, Botcha also dissuaded his family members from participating in the latest bids conducted for licences.
Botcha and Kiran Reddy had been at daggers drawn much before the onset of the liquor syndicate controversy. The APCC chief, who is also the transport minister expressed his displeasure over the allotment of transport portfolio to him soon after his swearing-in ceremony. He has often disagreed with Kiran Reddy on many schemes like Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu and jobs to one lakh unemployed youth to name a few.
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