Liquor row: Congress bid to help spirit lobby from other states, says CPM

THE face-off between government and opposition over granting permission to a private company to start liquor production took a new turn after the government and CPM trained their guns on former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and the Congress leadership.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE@T'Puram

Excise Minister M B Rajesh asked Ramesh Chennithala whether he had held a meeting with the representatives of spirit producing companies from other states before raising the allegations against the government.

The minister was speaking at a press conference held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. If at all a discussion was held between him and the representatives of spirit producing companies, Chennithala should reveal the topic of such a discussion, the minister said. CPM state secretary M V Govindan also alleged that the Congress has been raising the issue on behalf of the spirit lobby.

"It is to make the spirit lobby happy," Govindan said.