As colorful Holi preparations sweep India, a stark controversy brews in Delhi. Liquor vendors get the go-ahead to trade on the festival, bucking national trends and prompting AAP’s vehement protest. Leaders decry it as a profit-driven sham, dubbing it the ‘true liquor graft’ unfolding in plain sight.
Manish Sisodia, ex-Delhi Deputy CM, fired the first salvo in a public missive. He slammed the order as antithetical to Holi’s joy, promising windfall gains for the exchequer while eroding traditions. ‘Will ED and CBI blink?’ he taunted, invoking their zeal against AAP’s earlier policy versus today’s silence.
Saurabh Bharadwaj piled on via social media, exposing the order and BJP’s contradictions. ‘Hindu hardliners opening bars on holy days? Hypocrisy unveiled,’ he charged, referencing Chhath Puja and Ravidas Jayanti lapses. Concerns mounted over festival-time drinking’s toll on security, especially for women, and communal fabric.
Bharadwaj pressed: ‘Shouldn’t safety trump sales?’ BJP’s reticence amplifies the uproar, turning Holi into a proxy war. This saga not only heats up Delhi’s hustings but also questions the balance between commerce and culture in a diverse democracy.