Cong likely to promise prohibition in MP

The Congress is likely to promise total prohibition in its manifesto for poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, according to party sources.

The promise is incorporated in the vision document which will be presented to Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his Bhopal tour on September 17.

Sources said that total prohibition has been contemplated to woo women who comprise 50% of the total 4.8 crore Madhya Pradesh voters. In the previous Assembly elections, woman voters overwhelmingly favoured the BJP over the Congress.

According to Congress sources, the party has weighed the pros and cons of declaring prohibition. Experts on financial implication of prohibition were sent to dry states such as Gujarat and Bihar to study its impact on voters, particularly women. The outcome was positive, the sources said.

The Madhya Pradesh government earns over Rs 10,000 crore as excise revenue annually from auctioning both country-made and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) outlets.

Members of the vision document committee are confident that the loss to revenue due to prohibition can be offset by mobilising other resources and hiking taxes.

Chairman of the committee Rajendra Singh handed over the vision document to MPCC president Kamal Nath on Friday.

Other promises incorporated in the document include reducing Value Added tax (VAT) on petroleum products, refund of fees charged from the students who appeared in the examination conducted by the Madhya Pradesh professional examination board, unlimited electricity to poor on Rs 100 per month flat rate and Rs 4000 per month unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth in the state.