Bar owners will not be assured of change in liquor policy without CM's knowledge, UDF announces Assembly March on June 12

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: UDF will hold a Legislative Assembly march on June 12 demanding the resignation of the Excise and Tourism Ministers and a judicial inquiry into the bar controversy, according to convener M.M. Hasan. UDF will intensify its agitation inside and outside the assembly. If the government is not ready for a judicial inquiry, UDF agitation will spread to the grassroots.

With the knowledge of the Excise and Tourism Ministers, the bar owners collected money to pay the bribe. How many crores were collected? How much did CPM get? It should all be investigated. Avoiding dry day is not only to increase the revenue of the state but also for the Marxist party to increase their income, said Hasan.

The ongoing crime branch investigation will not reveal the real facts. An impartial investigation is also not possible. The Crime Branch is closing its investigation after the Excise Minister intervened. The Crime Branch Bar Association, which says it will continue to investigate the conspiracy behind the leak of the voicemail, is not investigating the contents of the leaked voicemail. Excise and Tourism Ministers assured the bar owners that there would be a change in the liquor policy. Based on that, each bar owner collected two and a half lakh rupees each. It was the tourism department that put forward the demand for dry day and settling the working hours of the bars. When the tourism department puts forward such a proposal, one can guess whose consent is behind it.

The UDF convener said that no one would give any assurance to the bar owners regarding the change in liquor policy without the knowledge and consent of the Chief Minister.

Responding to a question from mediapersons, M.M. Hasan said that he has offered full cooperation to the investigation in the case involving Tharoor's PA and that Shashi Tharoor has nothing to do with that case. He had already removed the accused PA from his staff. Tharoor himself has explained this. Do not compare this with the gold smuggling case involving the Chief Minister's office. In the gold smuggling case related to Swapna Suresh, the Chief Minister's office directly called the customs office and intervened. No such help was received from Tharoor. Therefore, Hasan said, do not try to connect these two cases.