Parties remain tight lipped to urge dry law in Puducherry

Most of the political parties now pitching for total prohibition in Tamil nadu virtually remain tight lipped in making the demand for Puducherry.
When an attempt was made during the time when Morarji Desai was Prime Minister to adopt dry law in Puducherry in 1979 a strong protest erupted and the then Janata Dal suffered a serious setback in the Assembly polls held in 1980 here. The party could emerge victorious only three segments and that too because of personal influence of the contestants.
The opposition Congress has been cautious in asserting its stand on the issue. Congress leader V Narayanasamy repeatedly made it clear both at a meeting of the PCC's working committee here and at press conferences subsequently that the Congress should not be mistaken as seeking prohibition in Puducherry when it was seeking a new liquor policy in Puducherry.

Liquor is a major source of revenue for the Puducherry government. Any attempt to bring in dry law would prove disadvantageous to the parties advocating prohibition here. However the Janata Dal (United) here has now come out with a plea to the Centre to direct Puducherry government to adopt prohibition as consumption of liquor was telling upon the lives of younger sections here.
There were agitations by women's outfits here seeking shifting of arrack shops from busy localities. On one occasion volunteers of a women's outfit ransacked an arrack shop on Puducherry-Valudavoor route here.
There were also agitations by the opposition Congress to shift liquor shops situated on a busy route. The agitations were all for shifting the shops only and not not for introduction of prohibition.