The Aam Aadmi Party has already been facing a lot of trouble due to the ongoing political tussle in Delhi, over the allegations of a multi-crore scam in the liquor policy of the Kejriwal government. Amidst this, in Punjab, the Akali Dal has alleged ₹500 crore scam in the AAP govt’s liquor policy.
Akali Dal president and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal stated, “the modus operandi to loot the state exchequer is the same as that of the AAP’s Delhi Model. Punjab has formed the excise policy in line with the Kejriwal govt’s excise policy in Delhi.” Moreover, Mr. Badal alleged ₹500 crore scam in Punjab’s excise policy, demanding a probe.
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Furthermore, Mr. Badal said that he will be approaching the Punjab governor in the matter, requesting him to take action and order a probe. “The policy and its makers are the same in Punjab and Delhi. When an FIR has been registered in Delhi, the same step must be taken in Punjab too. Like in Delhi, the AAP government in Punjab also, handed over almost the entire trade to two companies,” claimed Mr. Badal.
Akali Dal chief further asserted that the two companies’ profit margins were doubled to enable a quid pro quo. He claimed that while making the new excise policy, the AAP government in Punjab followed the lead of its counterpart in Delhi.
“As per the Punjab’s liquor policy, the L-1 (wholesale) licensee could not be an Indian or foreign producer and each liquor production company would select one licensee to market its goods in the state. The L-1 licensees may not own any equity in Punjab’s retail sector and had to have an annual revenue of at least Rs 30 crore. These terms eliminated the Punjabi liquor dealers from it,” said Mr. Badal.
Recently, Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of the opposition, said that he would meet the governor, demanding an investigation into Punjab’s liquor policy. Moreover, this would trouble the AAP in Punjab now.
