New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) A day after the Delhi government announced lowering the legal age of consuming liquor to 21 from 25 years under its upcoming excise policy, the political war has once again begun between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP.
AAP’s chief spokesperson Saurav Bharadwaj on Tuesday attacked the Delhi unit of the BJP, accusing it of political hypocrisy on liquor policy issues. “We can’t understand on which ground Delhi BJP opposes the new excise policy. In many BJP-ruled states, the minimum age for liquor consumption is 21 years,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said while addressing the press on Tuesday.
Bharadwaj was replying to Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta’s statement on the liquor policy. Gupta had on Monday opposed the Delhi Government’s decision of lowering the legal age of drinking to 21 and stated that he will take up the issue with Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal.
After Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced some changes in the excise policy on Monday, Gupta said the BJP will not allow the new excise policy and will oppose it. The BJP and the AAP have been at loggerheads over the new excise policy and the new face off began after the Lok Sabha passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (amendment) Act, 2021 on Monday.
Earlier on March 18, the BJP-led Centre had raised a red flag on the Kejriwal government’s flagship doorstep ration delivery scheme saying the word ‘Mukhyamantri’ cannot be used under the National Food Security Act. However, the Delhi Cabinet on Monday claimed to have sent the proposal again to the Centre without giving any name to the policy.
The AAP accused the BJP of misleading the people of the city because they think they can’t indulge in corruption once the new policy is implemented.