Thiruvananthapuram, June 25 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran has once again emerged as a thorn in the side of the V.D. Satheesan-led Kerala government, publicly attacking the proposed tax structure for low-alcohol beverages in the State Budget and demanding that the provision be dropped when the Finance Bill is introduced in the Assembly.

A former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, Lok Sabha member, Speaker and Minister, Sudheeran has for decades built his political identity around two causes, opposition to liquor proliferation and resistance to mineral sand mining.

Both issues resurfaced sharply on Wednesday as he questioned the government’s handling of the tax structure for low alcohol beverages and sought greater clarity on the state’s mining policy.

Sudheeran on Thursday said the proposal should have been discussed within the Congress and the UDF before finding a place in the Budget.

Had a policy decision been taken after proper consultations, the present controversy could have been avoided, he argued.

Claiming that he had already conveyed his concerns to the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister, he said public doubts and anxieties surrounding the proposal remained unaddressed.

“The government should not take decisions that affect its credibility. Matters should be handled transparently and explained clearly to the public without creating unnecessary controversies,” he said.

The intervention has political resonance because Sudheeran has often adopted his most vocal anti-liquor stance when the Congress is in power.

During the Oommen Chandy government between 2011 and 2016, he played a pivotal role in the bitter internal battle over liquor policy that eventually led to the closure of hundreds of bars across the state.

By the time the UDF demitted office in 2016, fewer than three dozen bars were functioning in Kerala.

A decade later, however, the liquor landscape has changed dramatically.

During the two successive LDF governments led by Pinarayi Vijayan, the number of bars climbed to nearly 900.

Sudheeran repeatedly wrote to Vijayan expressing concern over the expansion, but his appeals yielded little response.

His latest criticism has also extended to the government’s mineral sand mining policy.

Pointing to what he termed continuing ambiguities, Sudheeran demanded an unequivocal declaration that mining activities would not be permitted.

He also reminded the UDF leadership that it should remain faithful to positions championed by the then Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan while criticising the previous LDF government.

With a senior leader once again questioning policy decisions in public, the UDF government faces the familiar challenge of managing dissent from one of the party’s most persistent conscience-keepers.

–IANS

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