V D Satheesan Says UDF Will Decide Fate of Liquor Tax Concession, Opposition Calls It a "Sham"

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan continued to deflect on the controversial liquor tax policy, telling the Assembly that the decision to announce a major tax concession on low-strength liquor in the budget had now been left to the UDF to decide. Satheesan said the matter would be discussed with the UDF and a collective decision taken, adding that if the UDF said no to the proposal, it would be dropped. However, he has not agreed to withdraw the tax-concession proposal from the budget itself.

Former Finance Minister and MLA K N Balagopal hit back, saying that leaving the matter to the UDF for discussion was a mere sham as long as the proposal remains in the budget and the budget gets passed. Under the proposal, the existing tax rate of 251 percent has been cut to 120 percent for liquor made using up to 10 percent spirit, and to 175 percent for liquor with strength up to 20 percent.

Balagopal added that this was the very file that the LDF government had kept blocked for nearly three years — a file belonging to a corporate liquor company — which Satheesan cleared with unusual speed soon after coming to power, before announcing it in the budget. He said Chief Minister Satheesan owes Keralam's people an explanation for the interest behind granting a tax concession that floods the state with liquor at the government's own expense while causing heavy revenue loss to the exchequer. Former Excise Minister M B Rajesh had earlier said, "Let Satheesan just tell us how much was received."