Wine is not liquor, says Sanjay Raut after Maharashtra govt allows its sale in supermarkets, walk-in shops

Mumbai, Jan 28: After the Maharashtra government decided to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets and walk-in stores, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "Wine is not liquor. If wine sales increase,farmers will benefit from it. We've done this to double farmers' income. The BJP only opposes but does nothing for farmers."

The decision was taken to give a boost to fruit-based wineries which provide additional income to farmers, Minister for Skill Development Nawab Malik told reporters.

A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said "shelf-in-shop" method will be adopted in supermarkets and walk-in-stores which have area of 100 sq mt or more and which are registered under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act. But the supermarkets which are near places of worship or educational institutions can not sell wine.

Further, wine sale will not be allowed in the districts where prohibition is in force. Supermarkets will have to be pay a fee of Rs 5,000 for selling wine. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis criticized the decision, saying the government had rolled back prohibition.

"We will not allow Maharashtra to become a Madya-rashtra (liquor state')," he said.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government did not help people during two years of the pandemic but its "priority is promoting the sale of liquor," the former chief minister said.