Kerala bypoll: Booze worries for Left

The new liquor policy formulated by its own Government, by which booze outlets can be permitted in all panchayats with a population of more than 10,000, has turned into a burden for Kerala’s CPI(M)-led LDF in the by-election in Chengannur Assembly constituency which is set to witness an intense campaign against the policy by anti-liquor forums with the mighty Catholic Church leading it.

The joint anti-liquor council led by the anti-liquor forum of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) will hold campaigns in all the ten panchayats that constitute the Chengannur Assembly constituency from May 14 against the booze policy of the LDF Government, which allegedly paves way for opening booze outlets across the State.

The joint council will organize a public meeting in Chengannur town on May 22 to make the voters aware of the dangers in the LDF Government’s policy. Office-bearers of the constituent forums of the joint anti-liquor council said the campaign they had held among the voters so far had been highly effective. Polling will be held in Chengannur on May 28.

Joint council general convener Prasad Kuruvila informed newsmen the other day that a survey they had conducted in the constituency on the liquor policy had already covered 87 percent of the woman voters. Office-bearers said there was already a strong feeling against the Government’s liquor policy among the voters.

Immediately after details of the liquor policy came out in March, the Madya Viruddha Samithi (anti-liquor committee) of the KCBC had declared that it would do everything possible to defeat the LDF candidate in Chengannur. Committee chairman Bishop Remegiose Inchananiyil had then likened the policy to Cyclone Ockhi that had wreaked devastation on the Kerala coast.

Admitting that a massive campaign against the Government and the LDF could prove discomforting in the bypoll, front sources said that CPI(M) candidate Saji Cherian and his campaign managers had already started efforts to convince the Catholic clergy and other Church leaders that the Government was “not intending to let alcohol flow freely” in the State.

An LDF functionary said that such a campaign against the policy could have “some effect” on a good number of voters, especially those from the Christian community which accounts for 20 percent of the electorate in Chengannur, where the bypoll has been necessitated by the death of CPI(M)’s sitting  member KK Ramachandran Nair on January 14.

“Our campaign is against liquor. Its intention is not to support or oppose any front,” said an office-bearer of the joint anti-liquor committee while Prasad said that the campaign had the support of religious leaders. However, poll-watchers in Chengannur are of the opinion that that the campaign may have a direct impact on the Left candidate’s prospects.

Geevarghese Mor Coorilose, Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church known for his moderate religious views, said that the Government’s new liquor policy could affect the LDF in the by-poll. The leadership of the Syrian Mar Thoma Church has already come out against the liquor policy.

Campaign managers of D Vijayakumar, Congress candidate of the party-led UDF, and BJP candidate PS Sreedharan Pillai have already started efforts to cash in on the anti-liquor campaign in the constituency. However, a close aide of LDF nominee Saji Cherian confidently said, “We don’t expect the different churches to take an anti-LDF stand in Chengannur.”

The Leftists' confidence need not be unreasonable. The Orthodox Syrian Church, which has a strong presence in Chengannur, has indicated that it will not take an anti-LDF stand in the by-election. After meeting Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan the other day, its leaders had told the media that they did not expect the liquor policy to have a decisive role in the bypoll.