Politicos’ aides turn licence applicants
NAVEENA GHANATE
Hyderabad
Politicians belonging to various political parties are backing applicants for liquor licences keeping the need for liquor to attract voters in mind.
As this is an election year, many applicants having the backing of politicians or their aides have reportedly applied for licences to run liquor shops for the excise year 2023-25.
Highly placed sources indicated that the applicants are affiliated not just with a particular party but with all parties. It is learnt that even though the Congress and the BJP have been bashing the government for inviting licence applications the agents of all politicians have applied for them. During by-elections, the movement of liquor became very important for all parties.
So in a bid to woo voters all political parties are making their activists apply for liquor shop licenses. On Thursday alone around 20,000 applications were received and in total around 64,000 applications have been reportedly received.
Moreover, areas bordering Andhra Pradesh, especially Khammam and Suryapet, have reportedly received many applications compared to other areas. Incidentally, the outskirts of Hyderabad reportedly got a lot more applications than last year.
The tender process for issuing new licences for liquor shops started on August 4 and will end on August 18. A draw will be conducted to select successful applicants on August 21. Those who get licences must pay the first phase of the excise tax on August 21 and 22. The new shops can be opened from December 1, 2023, and can continue till November 30, 2025.
Sources said that finally, the applicant alone interacts with the Excise Department so that they would never know which party an applicant belongs to and selection is based on lottery.
