Spirits soar in Punjab during election time

Amritsar, Jan 14: Spirits are soaring high in Punjab, as it is election time and illicit distillaries brewing liquor have surfaced in the countryside.

These makeshift distillaries do brisk business as the election fever catches the voters. The distillaries are by and large located in the rural and semi-urban areas of the state.

The political leaders find the brew an easy way to attract voters and have asked their supporters to make arrangements for the storage of liquor--both 'angrezi' and 'desi'. The working class and the labourers will be 'fed' on the 'desi' brand while the slightly well off may get a taste of the 'agrezi' brand.

Politicians or assembly candidates, do deny distributing liquor to seek votes, but the fact remains that without 'daru,' no election in Punjab can be fought and won. Ask the political leaders in the villages and they would tell you the truth--the voters need liquor and so do those who would be canvassing in the polls.

''How can a worker canvass without 'daru'? '' a sarpanch of a village falling in the riverine belt of the Ajnala assembly segment said on anonymity. The sarpanches and panches, no matter to which party they are aligned, are nowadays busy handing over the raw material required for brewing the liquor.

Sub-divisional level police officials, while admitting that illict distillaries have begun to spring up in the rural areas, said they carry out a raid if they get a complaint. ''Illict distillation goes on even if there are no elections,'' one police official said while claiming that the cops were vigilant against any such illegale practice.

The religious leaders may issue appeals asking political parties not to use liquor or other intoxicants during the elections, but this has little effect. All political parties, be it the Congress or the 'Panthic' parties, including the Akali factions, have no option but to bow to the 'popular' demand to win polls.

Stills can be seen in the villages brewing all evenings and nights especially in the Mand area at the confluence of Sutlej and Beas river at Harike as it provides a good hiding place for the illegal distilleries to function. The area also provides them with plenty of water and wood for keeping their distillaries running. Apart from liquor, opium, poppy husk and money of course, are also used by politicians to seek the voter's favour. The trend to seek votes through these measures has been gaining ground in the state in the last few years.

Though the Assembly elections are still a month away, the henchmen of politicians have gone into high gear to brew liquor to meet the rising demand. In the belt along the Ravi river too, illicit brewing is on a high.

In such a situation, the police and excise officials also play safe and keep away from the illigal brewing business as they do not want to displease the political bosses. The political leaders may give sermons on checking liquor consumption amongst the youth, but when it comes to practice, even the young voters are targeted.

All political parties had during their recent meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) at Chandigarh called for checking distribution of liquor, poppy husk and money to influence the voters.

The Electoral Officers in the state will find it an uphill task to check the flow of liquor as a majority of them normally do not have a proper knowledge of the topograhy of a particular area and are not aware of the illict stills and have to rely on the cops.

UNI