Much like elsewhere in the country, politicians in Andhra Pradesh try to garner the votes of women primarily by promising welfare schemes as well as the prohibition of liquor.
Every political party that has come to power has promised in its manifesto either total or partial prohibition. However, except N.T. Rama Rao, the founder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), no Chief Minister has dared to implement prohibition in full. It appears to be the same case with the present government.
Rao imposed the prohibition of arrack in 1994 and total prohibition, including of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), in 1995. But this policy was overturned by N. Chandrababu Naidu, his son-in-law, when he became Chief Minister in 1995. Since then, Andhra Pradesh has never seen any form of prohibition.
When Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014, the TDP came back to power. In the run-up to the election, Mr. Naidu in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and with outside support from the Jana Sena Party promised to implement phased prohibition, but reneged on the promise after assuming power. He went back to the open auction system, and about 3,000 liquor shops were given licences, apart from bars and restaurants. Belt shops or illegal wine shops in rural belts also flourished in an organised way during his regime.
In 2019, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy too promised total prohibition on assuming office. But immediately after taking charge, Mr. Reddy said he would only implement phased prohibition and that total prohibition would come into force by the end of his first five-year term. Four and a half years since, there is no sign of phased or total prohibition.
Now, it appears that his government will not be able to live up to its promise as it has already raised ₹10,000 crore from the market by issuing bonds in the name of Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited, a company fully owned by it. One of the conditions in the issuance of the bonds is that there will be no partial or total prohibition in the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in any part of the State.
The Opposition parties have seized this opportunity to accuse Mr. Reddy and his party of going back on a promise. However, except for Rao, it is a fact that every party has kept this promise unfulfilled. Revenue from liquor is crucial for all governments.
Mr. Reddy is also facing flak for removing the digital component from liquor sales. He has banned most of the reputed brands and companies and is facing the accusation of pushing unknown brands.
Excise officials says that there is no proof that substandard brands are being pushed at a higher cost to earn more profits and that this has caused health issues among consumers. The brands manufactured in Andhra are from maize extracts and are not molasses based, which is why they taste different, they say.
While the number of shops still continues to about 3,000 in Reddy’s government, the major change in the liquor policy is that all shops are now owned by the state. Only bars are owned by private players who pay a hefty licence fee.
The YSRCP government has also formed a separate unit called the Special Enforcement Bureau, by drawing men from the police and the prohibition and excise departments, to tackle issues relating to ganja smuggling, illicitly distilled liquor, smuggling of IMFL and arrack from other States, and control the growth of belt shops. The success of the Bureau is debatable, but records show that there has been success in curbing ganja cultivation under the Parivartana programme, in checking the amount of liquor being smuggled from the neighbouring States of Odisha and Karnataka, and in the manufacture of illicitly distilled liquor. There are, however, mixed responses on the checks on belt shops.
With the election nearing, the liquor policy is expected to be a major poll plank once again. The Opposition is gearing up to question the veracity of the ownership of the breweries, brand quality, and the unfulfilled promise of imposing prohibition. Women who had voted the YSRCP to power with the hope that Mr. Reddy would bring back prohibition are unhappy. As per excise officials, the cheapest brand of 100-120 ml of liquor cost about ₹90 about four years ago and now costs ₹140-150. While Mr. Reddy has rolled out welfare measures, the issue of prohibition could be a problem for him in the elections.
