Delhi’s Excise Policy War- Consumers suffer in slugfest between Delhi government & MCD

It is a new political battle between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi Government versus the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is controlled by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

They say, man proposes and God disposes, but here it seems that Delhi Government proposes but eventually, the BJP-led MCD disposes.

As per the new excise policy introduced by the Delhi government two-and a-half months earlier, the capital of the country would be made free from dingy liquor shops which would be replaced by 849 new, bright and bigger shops, where there would be no brand pushing of cheap and inferior quality liquor.

One of the objectives of the new excise policy of Delhi is to give the alco beverage consumers of Delhi a wide range of quality products to choose from. In this direction, all government-owned liquor vends, which were at dark spots of the city and were quite infamous for brand pushing of low quality and inferior liquor, were shut for once and all. But alas, petty politics seems to be bringing things back to square one.

Of the 552 new swanky liquor shops opened as per the new excise policy of Delhi, 25 are already sealed by the MCD, which is ruled by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The MCD has issued notice to another 130 new liquor vends in the capital and the ‘Sword of Damocles’ hangs on the very existence of these new shops.

Industry sources says that the local mafia, which had been calling the shots through their liquor syndicate for decades now and were openly selling their cheap and inferior quality liquor in the capital. They had lobbied hard against the new liquor policy but had failed to succeed in that regard. This lobby, sources say, has gone to the MCD, which they think could be their last saviour.

Now it seems that the consumers of Delhi are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea with the new tussle between the Delhi government and the MCD. The MCD has been shutting new shops and issuing notices to others on flimsy pretext of illegal construction and violation of building by laws. Needless to say, the alcobev consumers in Delhi are the sufferers in this political battle.

Bigger Political Battle Lies Ahead

The MCD elections, which are to be held in March or April this year, will be the real battle of Waterloo between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bhartiya Janata Party, and would decide whether the new excise policy of Delhi would come into force with full vigour or not.

There are 272 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the civic body of Delhi, which was trifurcated in the year 2012 into three separate civic bodies namely South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) having four zonal areas i.e. Centre, South, West & Najafgarh; the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) covering Rohini, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, City Sadar Paharganj, Keshavpuram & Narela zones; and the third civic body i.e East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) consisting of two zones namely Shahdara North & Shahdara South. 137 is the magic number to get majority in the three zones of MCD. The Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and Indian National Congress, the three major players in Delhi politics, have already started strapping up for the forthcoming MCD poll.

In the 2017 Delhi MCD poll, it was BJP all the way. While the BJP got a mammoth share of 181 seats with a vote share of 36.08 percent, AAP got 49 seats with a vote share of 26.23 percent. The Indian National Congress had to remain content with 31 seats and with a vote share of 21.09 percentage. But the 2021 by polls at the seats of Rohini C, Shalimar Bagh, Trilokpuri, Kalyanpuri and Chauhan Bangar came as a big setback for BJP. Elections to the five seats saw the BJP draw a blank while the AAP shined with four wins and the INC got one seat.

With Congress being assumed as a fence sitter this time around, the main fight for the power of Delhi’s civic body is between AAP and BJP. If at all BJP retains power in the forthcoming MCD election, it could be a major setback for the new excise policy of Delhi. But if the Aam Aadmi Party, which has claimed to do wonders in the capital with free electricity, free water, better MCD schools and Mohalla Clinics, gets the majority, it is implementation of Delhi’s excise policy. Then soon we would see the capital studded with swanky liquor shops.