Dry Run: A show of restricting alcohol is an old move in a chief minister’s playbook

The list of chief ministers—Morarji Desai, Nitish Kumar, Oommen Chandy, NT Rama Rao, etc—who made political capital out of alcohol is long. The latest to join this club, on his second day in office, is Vijay, the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu. He has announced restrictions: shops selling alcohol within 500 metres of schools, religious institutions, and bus stands are to be closed.

All these outlets are owned by the state government be­cause private liquor shops are not permitted in Tamil Nadu. But why not ban it outright? If liquor is bad near temples, why is it okay near offices or grocery shops? Because others have tried and it usually doesn’t work. Total bans lead to a flourishing underground industry as Bihar has discovered. Making a rewarding sector into a criminal enterprise means the cre­ation of more criminals and crime.

Outright bans also remove one of the few ways in which states can make revenue indepen­dently of the Centre. Alcohol is crucial to prop­ping up budgets of state governments, a reason why many like Tamil Nadu and Kerala want to be the only ones selling liquor to their residents. Monopolies make better profits. Even states with prohibi­tion find workarounds to make money from booze. Gujarat has had it for decades but tourists can legally get liquor with an easily available permit.

Counterbalancing the reasons for states to not restrict alcohol is the women’s vote. Indian men are overwhelm­ingly the main consumers of liquor. The poor spend money they don’t have on drink, leaving their wives to suffer. Any measure seen as curbing alcohol use gets the gratitude of women that, hopefully, gets converted at the ballot box. Their votes have also become more meaningful in how elections play out.

For a new party trying to consolidate, a token restriction on alcohol sales is a low-hanging fruit to pick. But those who want to buy a bottle will just walk a little more to do it. The exercise will do good for them. The government will continue to earn just as much. It is a win-win for everyone.