Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that prohibiting liquor sale in the state was impossible. Siddaramaiah was responding to demands from the Opposition BJP seeking total ban on liquor.
“It is impossible for the government to ban liquor. The prohibition has not worked anywhere. Look at Gujarat, which is supposed to be a dry state. See for yourself how well the liquor ban is being implemented,” Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister asked the BJP to convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formulate a national policy on liquor prohibition. “If there’s a national policy on this, Karnataka will support it,” he said.
Excise Minister R B Thimmapur informed the Assembly that the government had generated Rs 11,000 crore in revenues from liquor sales.
BJP leader C T Ravi demanded a ban on liquor stating it was “destroying families.” Leader of Opposition Jagadish Shettar pointed out that the Excise Department had issued directions to wine stores specifying liquor sales target. “Why is the government doing this,” Shettar asked.
