If alcohol-based sanitisers can kill the coronavirus on hands, there is no reason why alcoholic drinks may not kill the virus in tipplers’ throats, Congress MLA from Sangod Assembly constituency in Kota district Bharat Singh Kundanpur has proposed, seeking the reopening of liquor shops in Rajasthan.

Mr. Kundanpur wrote in all seriousness to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday. The move would not only save alcoholics from dying of spurious liquor consumption, but also earn much-needed revenue for the State in a lockdown-hit economy, he stated. Liquor is a much-maligned commodity, Mr. Kundanpur said in a matter-of-fact manner. When alcohol can wash coronavirus off hands, it will dislodge the virus from booze guzzlers’ throats as well, he reasoned.

Mr. Kundanpur is not alone in urging Mr. Gehlot to open liquor shops in the State.

His Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) colleague Balwan Singh Punia, MLA from the Bhadra Assembly segment, had made a similar plea to the CM in early April. He, too, had pointed out that the closure of alcohol shops had led to spurious liquor businesses flourishing, affecting people’s health.

Appealing fervently, Mr. Kundanpur referred to an incident in Halena village in Bharatpur district, where two persons lost their eyesight and after consuming country-made liquor. He also pointed out that Rajasthan’s target of generating ₹12,500 crore revenue from liquor sale in 2020-21 appeared to have become a distant dream now.