The Oommen Chandy Government has landed in yet another crisis over its liquor policy, with the working president of the Kerala Bar Hotels and Restaurants Association alleging that Finance Minister KM Mani had taken a ₹1-crore advance bribe from bar owners to get the 418 bars, which had been folded since March 31, reopened.
In a shocking interview to a TV channel, Biju Ramesh, Chairman of the Rajdhani Group of hotels, who is also the working president of the association, alleged that bar owners had handed over ₹1 crore to Mani at his Pala home.
It was the first instalment of the ₹5 crore demanded by Mani to get the UDF government’s decision not to renew bar licences reversed, Ramesh alleged.
Ramesh owns nine bars, of which seven had to be closed on March 31, when the Government refused to renew the licences of 418 ‘substandard’ bars. The other two bars, attached to luxury hotels, have been exempted from closure.
The allegation, which sent shock waves through the UDF establishment, was immediately denied by Mani and leaders of his party, the Kerala Congress (Mani).
Chandy, sensing the development has the potential to threaten his government, asserted that the allegation is absolutely baseless, and stood by Mani.