Johnson Cherian.
The remark of Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister Kothapalli Samuel Jawahar that beer is a “health drink” has snowballed into a controversy with the principal Opposition party — YSR Congress — raising a hue and cry over it.
The Minister, in an interview to a vernacular TV channel, had said the State government was planning to promote beer as a health drink. When the anchor questioned in which way was beer a health drink, the Minister invited the latter to a meeting where he could list the “scientific reasons.”
Video goes viral
Meanwhile, the video of the interview has gone viral on the social media much on the lines of the interview of Vijayawada West MLA Jaleel Khan during which he said that he studied physics as a subject in B.Com.
YSR Congress MLA R.K Roja reacted sharply and asked what was preventing the Telugu Desam government from “selling beer in medical shops and distributing it as a nutritional supplement to newborns, pregnant women and students in general if it is a health drink.”
Ms. Roja said that she did not expect such a remark from the Minister who was a Dalit and former teacher.
‘Anti-people govt.’
Ms. Roja said the TDP government had increased the number of liquor shops and bars though there was no demand for them. However, it was unmoved by the plight of farmers, unemployed youth and DWCRA groups’ members, the MLA said.
The TDP government was more interested in filling its coffers than the welfare of people. The government had no concern for the well-being of three crore women in the State nor had respect for the directives of the highest court of the land, Ms. Roja alleged.
