Liquor seized at Amul Dairy chairman's plot may impact upcoming elections

Seizure of liquor bottles from a land plot linked to Congress legislator and Amul Dairy Chairman Ramsinh Parmar might haunt him for some time.

Elections for the new board of the Kheda District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, known as Amul Dairy, are scheduled for May 12. The raid, on the plot at Thasra in Anand district on Sunday, might spoil his chance in the polls.

The police seized an estimated 2,023 beer bottles and 18 boxes of Indian-made foreign liquor worth Rs 5.32 lakh. Possession of liquor is an offence in Gujarat.

The polls are crucial for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, as it is the last Congress fortress among dairy cooperatives of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation.

Parmar claimed that the raid was politically motivated keeping in view the coming elections.

“The plot that I have rented out belongs to the party and I have also told this to the police. This is politically motivated to defame me as the elections are just round the corner,” Parmar said. He, however, is hopeful that it would not affect his chances at the elections. Parmar, who is director at Amul Dairy’s board since 1974, is eyeing chairmanship for the fifth consecutive term. The election in the dairy was last held in August 2009.

The elections for the post of chairman of GCMMF is due around August. The chairman of Sabar Dairy, Jethabhai Patel, is the current chairman of GCMMF.

According to Thasra police sub-inspector A G Chauhan, they have arrested three people, including a minor under the Prohibition Act. He said one of the three was a Class-V student, while the others were identified as Vinu Babu Kharad and Pravin Mali.

They were unloading the consignment of liquor bottles when the police reached the spot.

Voices within the GCMMF say Gujarat being a ‘dry’ state, such an incident can definitely tarnish one’s reputation. While most  dairy cooperative chairmen did not wish to comment on this controversial matter, one source said, “There is still some time before the elections, and if things are not played up much, then it might not mar his chances during the elections. However, such an incident is definitely going to dent one’s reputation.”

Manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in Gujarat under a law since 1960.