Reconsider decision on opening of liquor shops: Delhi BJP leaders to AAP govt

Delhi BJP leaders on Monday asked the AAP government to reconsider its decision on opening of liquor shops in the national capital, saying it may lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Leader ofOpposition inDelhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri criticised the Delhi government's decision to open liquor shops, claiming it can increase coronavirus positive cases by up to 10 per cent.

About 150 government liquor outlets opened across the city for the first time since the lockdown was imposed by the city government on March 23 in Delhi.

Queues as long as 1-3 kilometres were seen outside liquor stores, with people paying scant attention towards wearing masks and maintaining social distancing norms.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Commissioner of Police A K Srivastava to review the decision of opening liquor shops.

In a letter to both Kejriwal and Srivastava, he said policemen should not be deployed to handle people outside liquor stores as they run the risk of contracting the infection.

Bidhuri who had on Sunday, written a letter to Kejriwal against his government's decision to open liquor shops, said lockdown restrictions were being violated outside such stores.

"Opening of liquor shops in the capital caused huge crowds which completely broke the lockdown norms. There were reports of police resorting to lathicharge to control the situation. There has been an open violation of the rules of social distancing," he said in another letter to Kejriwal on Monday.

He said both liquor sellers and buyers are at risk of being infected in the wake of cash transactions during the sale and purchase of alcohol.

He urged the chief ministerto reconsider the decision to open liquor shops in view of the serious condition of coronavirus in the city. Sale of liquor should be immediately stopped, he added.

Delhi BJP MLA Vijender Gupta tweeted,"The scenes outside liquor shops in Delhi are worrying. It seems CM @arvindkejriwal did not have a contingency plan to deal with the situation at hands. People gathering in large numbers shows mishandling of the situation by the administration.