Can't rule out 'Lal Salaam Congress' in Kerala: CPI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI, a major constituent of the CPM-led LDF , doesn't rule out a West Bengal like situation in Kerala in future, “where the front might forge an alliance with the Congress party , in case there arises a need to fight authoritarian forces'.
However, currently the Kerala politics remains totally different from that in West Bengal, where the Left parties have joined hands with the Congress in a bid to fight an authoritarian government and save democracy , said CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran, at a meet-the press programme organised here on Tuesday .
On the liquor policy of the LDF , the CPI leader said total prohibition was a utopian concept propagated by Oommen Chandy . “Prohibition has not succeeded in any part of the world. It's impractical. The LDF's policy is abstinence as liquor consumption is a social evil,“ he said.
Blurting out statistics on the sale and consumption of liquor in the state after the implementation of the new liquor policy , Rajendran said the sale of IMFL in 2015-16 was 355.95 lakh litres against 316.17 lakh litres in 2014-15. “Last year witnessed a record liquor sale to the tune of Rs 1,012.6 crores. And the UDF government, which claims to have reduced the availability liquor, hasn't closed down a single distillery in the state,“ he pointed out.