BJP will 'review' liquor licensing policy

NEW DELHI: It may be election rhetoric but for those fond of their evening tipple, the BJP chief ministerial prospect's claim that the party would
review the Congress government's licensing policy for wine shops could come as a shock.

V K Malhotra, who was speaking out against the opening of a wine shop in a locality in Mount Kailash area, added that the present government's policy of issuing licences would need to be reviewed and corrective action taken once the BJP came to power. The statement came in the wake of the recent opening of a wine shop in the area, which Malhotra claimed posed a serious security threat to the residential locality.

It wasn't just Malhotra questioning the Congress' policies on Friday as fellow BJP leader Dr Harshvardhan also attacked the government for its inability to act on the Afzal Guru matter. Said Harshvardhan, "The government by failing to clear the file on recommendation of the mercy petition of Guru is encouraging terrorism. It is trying to play vote politics by postponing a decision on the issue.''

That the city BJP is planning to tow the national party line by using terrorism as a significant poll plank was also made apparent as the party questioned the Congress on its stand in the Batla House encounter issue. "Why are Congress leaders terming the encounter as fake? It has raised doubts on the martyrdom of M C Sharma, and people are questioning the entire episode, which is only giving shelter to terrorists,'' added Harshvardhan. With the Congress seeming to distance itself from the Jamia Nagar encounter, sources say the BJP feels that its the right time to play up the terrorism angle, even as it attacks the government on its lack of focus on the security issue in the city.

Source : Times Of India