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Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Delhi govt mulls bringing back private liquor vends under new excise policy
Private players could make a comeback in Delhi's liquor shops. The Delhi BJP government, which is preparing a new excise policy, is considering reintroducing private liquor shops in the Capital — just as it was in the old excise regime before 2021. The government plans to implement the new policy by July 1 with an aim to increase revenue, curb corruption and bring transparency. According to sources, the government is likely to provide licences to private players to provide a good walk-in experience for customers. 'About 100-150 private liquor shops, mostly in malls and other premium locations, are being considered. The numbers will be finalised once the policy is ready. The modalities of how to issue the licence, whether through an e-auction or e-lottery, are currently being discussed. A meeting of a high-level committee set up to prepare the policy, which is headed by the Chief Secretary, was also held on Friday. Issues such as the number of shops, licensing, etc, were discussed,' sources said. Under the pre-2021 policy, both government and private liquor shops operated in Delhi. In November 2021, the government — the AAP was in power at the time — had exited the liquor business and handed things over to private vendors, with an aim to cut down corruption. The policy soon ran into controversy and investigations by multiple agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. In 2022, the government scrapped this policy and brought back the old excise regime — but only liquor shops run by government corporations were allowed to operate. Almost all top AAP — including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia — were jailed in the case. Currently, a major issue facing Delhi is the unavailability of popular and good quality brands of whisky, beer, vodka, gin, and several others. 'Some popular brands are not in Delhi as their parent company was blacklisted from selling liquor in the national capital following complaints of irregularities and court cases during the implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy… Less popular brands have entered the scene, which has pushed customers to neighbouring states… The government is planning to increase the availability of popular brands and is likely to reintroduce some that are currently not available in Delhi shops…,' said sources. Popular choices like Chivas Regal, Blenders Pride and Royal Stag, part of the Pernod Ricard brand, are not available in Delhi. Pernod Ricard India's application for an L-1 licence was rejected earlier. Benoy Babu, a regional manager at PRI, was a witness in the CBI's excise case. Babu was eventually arrested by the ED. Meanwhile, discussions on rationalising brand licence fees and retail margins are also underway, said sources, adding that excise duty and retail licensing are also likely to be increased under the new policy. 'The retail margin cap is Rs 50 for Indian-Made Foreign Liquor and Rs 100 for foreign liquor. This is on a per-bottle basis. Government-run shops have monopolised the retail business by pushing less popular brands at the range of Rs 400 to Rs 600, instead of stocking premium brands. Also, cheaper brands sell fast… Thus, discussions are on to rationalise these margins to increase revenue as well as make premium brands available for customers,' said sources. Industry sources said private retailers have started searching for properties in the city to set up shop. Currently, there are over 700 liquor shops in Delhi run by the four government corporations — Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Whole-sale Store and Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation. The Excise Department has asked the four corporations to carry out document validation online by June 30. Last week, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said several reforms will be incorporated into the new policy, including scientific testing of liquor quality, digitisation of the sale system, curbing illegal sales, and ensuring transparency in the licensing process. The high-level committee is also studying policies implemented in Delhi earlier and those in neighbouring states.
Indian Express
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Amid INDIA rifts, AAP to go solo in Bihar polls on debut, eyes expansion
Gearing up to make its foray into Bihar's electoral politics for the first time since its inception, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to go it alone in the state Assembly polls slated for October-November this year. Routed in its Delhi stronghold earlier this year after remaining at the helm for 11 years, the AAP is eyeing a larger political footprint across the country – including in some crucial poll-bound states like Bihar where its INDIA bloc allies are taking on the ruling BJP-led NDA. In Punjab, which is now the only state where it is in power, the AAP is into fourth year of its tenure, trying to bolster its administration as well as the party organisation. The AAP's quest for a larger part of the national vote share would pit it against more than one of its INDIA allies in some key Assembly elections over the next couple of years – the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left in Bihar; and the Congress and Left in Punjab. In contrast, the INDIA bloc would find a united NDA in Bihar, where the BJP is putting in place an aggressive joint campaign along with the Janata Dal (United) and LJP (Ram Vilas) among other regional parties. Highlighting Operation Sindoor and the 'achievements' of its governments in Bihar and at the Centre, the NDA would seek to retain power in the state. While the AAP has also decided to independently contest the 2026 zila panchayat polls in UP, it has yet to take a call on the 2027 UP Assembly polls, where the party is also likely to go alone, according to party insiders. The AAP has begun holding several training camps for volunteers across several districts in UP. Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, in the midst of the party's bypoll campaigns in Gujarat and Punjab, visited Bihar earlier this week. 'We have decided to contest the Bihar Assembly elections on our own. The AAP will contest all Assembly seats (243 seats) in the state. We will also contest the UP zila polls in 2026 alone,' Singh, who is also the AAP's in-charge for UP, told The Indian Express. 'This will be the first time that we will contest polls in Bihar… The foundation of the party's organisation in the state has been in place since (the 2014 Lok Sabha polls),' he added. Asked what this would mean for the AAP's equations with the INDIA alliance, Singh said, 'The INDIA bloc was only for the Lok Sabha polls. After that, (INDIA parties) have contested separately in Haryana, then Delhi, and now we will do so in Bihar as well.' After its seat-sharing talks with the Congress failed in both the October 2024 Haryana and February 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, the AAP has targeted the Congress on various issues besides slamming it for its role as the leader of the INDIA bloc. According to AAP sources, the party's decision to go it alone in Bihar and UP would underline its commitment to expansion well ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. With AAP national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as its face and the party's 'governance model' based on free and efficient delivery of public utilities in addition to focus on education and health its main plank, the party has already started hitting the ground in Bihar and UP. In UP, for instance, the AAP has raked up the issue of 'costly electricity and frequent power cuts' in the state capital Lucknow, with Singh saying the state's schools and hospitals also needed an overhaul. Claiming that the AAP has been on a mission to connect with each village in UP, Singh added that the state was in need of 'kaam ki rajniti (politics of work)'. The issues of law and order and unemployment are at the core of the party's campaign in Bihar too, where the AAP is in the process of inducting and training volunteers. Meanwhile, senior AAP leaders, including its newly-appointed Delhi chief and former minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, have undertaken visits to several slum clusters across the national capital, which have recently seen demolitions and have been predominantly inhabited by people from UP and Bihar. The AAP has alleged that these migrants have been rendered homeless by the 'BJP's four-engine sarkar'. The AAP's upcoming poll plan for Bihar, as well as UP, would be significant for the party, organisationally. Sources said the AAP was seeking to identify a third tier of leadership within its ranks as it continues to create a nationwide cadre. It already has Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Gopal Rai and Satyendar Jain at the top followed by the second rung of Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, among others. AAP sources said it was 'confidence' among the party's core group of leaders that led to its decision to take a plunge into the Bihar polls. 'All our state in-charges and organisational heads are in the states that have been assigned to them. The party is building itself from the ground up and receiving tremendous response,' an AAP insider claimed.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
AAP's entry could clutter Bihar's poll fray, split Opp votes in direct face-off
Ousted from power in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), that was a constituent of the INDIA bloc in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has announced to field candidates on all the 243 seats in Bihar and hopes to cash in on by raising the issues of 'BJP's failed promises to migrant Biharis, who constitute a significant number in Delhi'. The announcement came from AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in Patna, but it remains to be seen if AAP would really go all the way, as it had backed out of election at the last moment in 2020 citing Covid and other factors and has never contested the state polls even at the peak of its popularity in Delhi. 'We will go to all the villages of Bihar and tell the people about the reality of the BJP, which had promised houses in place of jhuggis before Delhi election to migrant Biharis living there for 50 years, and is now demolishing their dwellings. We will present our model to the people of Bihar and field candidates on all 243 seats to seek their support,' he added. The only time AAP contested in Bihar was in 2014, when it fielded candidates on 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats, but could win none. In 2015, it did not contest, but lent its support to the anti-BJP alliance. In 2019, its seat-sharing talks with the RJD and the Congress collapsed. In 2020, it again did not contest despite making an early announcement. This time it wants to go solo in Bihar, highlighting the plight of the migrants in Delhi under the BJP government, which came to power in Delhi last year ending the long run of AAP. Political analysts feel that the entry of AAP in Bihar as an independent player could be an attempt to win over the Poorvanchalis, who are set to have deserted it after throwing their weight completely behind Arvind Kejriwal's party in 2015 and 2020, but hurt the cause of the INDIA bloc more than the NDA, as the presence of Jan Suraaj Party and the AIMIM of Assauddin Owaisi would only make the election multipolar to suit the BJP strategy. 'While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc are the major formations face to face in the forthcoming Bihar assembly election 2025 yet again, with margin of error likely to be small, the emergence of too many players apart from the two main formations would make the scene cluttered and confuse the voters to some extent, but in a multi-party democracy like ours it is not uncommon,' said former professor of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Pushpendra. He, however, said that with seat-sharing yet to be formalised in the two main formations, and pulls and pressure likely to intensify in the days to come, there was still time for the political climate to settle, which could throw a new alliance at the last moment. 'In politics, nothing can be ruled out, as a lot happens as part of the strategy to get one's arithmetic right even against odds,' he added. Political analyst Prof NK Choudhary said that the entry of AAP could be an important factor, as Jan Suraaj Party is already there to challenge the dominance of the mainstream parties like the BJP, JD-U, RJD and the Congress, but it would not be easy to fit into Bihar's complex political reality guided by caste and region. 'For AAP, the move is clearly aimed at winning over the Bihar migrants in Delhi through their homes in Bihar, but everything does not happen the way one plans in politics, especially in Bihar. AIMIM has also made its intentions clear to field more candidates than in 2020, when it won five seats for the first time. More formations can take place in the days to come. But it will not be the merrier, as big players will have to watch out against small aberrations,' he added. Political reactions to AAP's entry have been on the predictable lines, with the Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar describing the move as an 'attempt to split votes to help the BJP'. Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said that Bihar was different from Delhi. BJP, on the other hand, brushed aside AAP's foray into Bihar. 'Bihar people wiped out AAP from Delhi and they are a spent force now. Bihar does not look beyond the development model of the NDA government. The way the Centre is pouring funds in Bihar, development has been fast tracked and jobs are being provided in a big way. People will once again not look beyond NDA,' said Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
AAP to contest elections all seats in Bihar, says AAP MP Sanjay Singh
Patna (Bihar) [India], June 17 (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday announced that the party has decided to contest elections on all seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election on all 243 seats. Sanjay Singh said this decision was made after discussions with AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and the party's Bihar committee. 'After discussions with the party's national president, Arvind Kejriwal, and the Bihar committee, it was decided that we will contest elections on all seats in Bihar,' Sanjay Singh said. The Rajya Sabha MP's statement came amid the party's protest in Patna against the Delhi government's demolition drive under the BJP in various areas in the national capital. Sanjay Singh urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ask Prime Minister Modi to stop the demolition drive and fulfil the promise of 'Jahan jhuggi, wahin makaan.' 'Regarding the demolition of shops and houses of people from Bihar in Delhi, I want the Chief Minister of Bihar to tell PM Modi to stop it because these people had promised them 'Jahan jhuggi, wahin makaan'...' Sajay Singh said. Taking to X, Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of 'chasing away' people of Bihar from Delhi through this demolition drive. 'Betrayal in Delhi- friendship in Bihar, It won't work-it won't work. The BJP that is chasing away Bihari brothers from Delhi, chase that BJP away from Bihar. Huge protest in Patna against demolition of houses of Bihar people in Delhi,' he said. Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date. While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar. In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates. The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2. (ANI)
The Print
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
AAP to contest Bihar assembly polls: Sanjay Singh
Singh was asked about speculations that AAP, which is a force to reckon with in Delhi and Punjab, besides having made its presence felt in Gujarat, was planning to contest the Bihar assembly elections. The Rajya Sabha MP, who is the party's in-charge for Bihar, spoke to reporters in the state capital where he took part in an AAP dharna against the NDA government. Patna, Jun 17 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh on Tuesday announced that his party will be throwing its hat in the ring for the Bihar assembly polls, which are due later this year. Replying in the affirmative, he said, 'We will be contesting the polls in Bihar. Details like which seats to fight will be decided by the central leadership in due course.' 'In Delhi, the BJP government is treating migrants from Bihar and Purvanchal like citizens of an enemy country. They are being rendered homeless as slums are being demolished with a vengeance. We call upon the people of Bihar to vote the BJP out of power in the state,' Singh said. Incidentally, the AAP, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, after enjoying two consecutive terms in power in the government in the national capital, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP in the Delhi assembly polls held earlier this year. The Rajya Sabha MP alleged, 'The BJP used to entice Biharis and Purvanchalis living in Delhi, while we were in power, with promises of pucca houses in place of jhuggis (slums). They bared their fangs in the thick of polls when migrant brethren were labelled as Bangladeshis.' 'I had strongly raised a protest in Parliament. I have come here with the message that betrayal in Delhi cannot go hand in hand with goodwill in Bihar (Dilli mein gaddari aur Bihar mein yaari nahin chalegi),' Singh added. He also urged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), and BJP leaders in Bihar to raise their voice against the alleged mistreatment of migrants in Delhi. It remains to be seen how the entry of AAP affects the poll scenario in Bihar which is likely to witness a straight contest between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan, the state version of the INDIA bloc of which the Aam Aadmi Party is also a part. Besides AAP, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party will also contest the polls as it threatens to queer the pitch for both NDA and the Mahagathbandhan. PTI NAC ACD This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
