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Antony to fight if Nayanar swallows arrack ban

Opposition leader in Kerala assembly A K Antony on Tuesday threatened to launch an agitation if the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front government went ahead with its proposal to lift the ban on arrack.

He was reacting to CPI-M politburo member V S Achuthanandan's statement that nothing stopped the government from reviewing the ban if the situation demanded it.

Stating he did not want to politicise the issue as it involved the people's welfare, Antony said he would seek everyone's cooperation for the proposed mass movement.

Challenging Chief Minister E K Nayanar, Achuthanandan and CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to lift the ban, he said: "Nobody can reverse the decision taken by the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in 1996."

Antony alleged that the LDF government had, since its formation, attempted to sabotage the ban. Vijayan's statement confirmed that the CPI-M was bent on encouraging illicit distillation, thus creating a public opinion that the ban was a failure, he said.

UNI

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