Archive · 18 Sep 2026
Binoy Viswam Criticises Previous LDF Government’s Liquor Policy
Binoy Viswam is a leader of the CPI in Kerala.
He criticised the previous LDF government’s rules about selling liquor.
He said people expected the government to make bigger changes.
He explained that the plan was supposed to improve toddy shops.
He also questioned why toddy shops and bars had different distance rules near schools and religious places.
Toddy shops had to be 400 metres away, while bars had a 50-metre limit.
He said the rules did not seem logical or consistent.
He also said the LDF should study why it lost four constituencies.
CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam criticised the previous LDF government’s liquor policy.
He said the government failed to implement changes people had expected, including transforming toddy shops.
Viswam questioned different distance limits for toddy shops, bars and five-star bars near schools and religious places.
He said the LDF should examine why it lost Vaikom, Thaliparamba, Payyanur and Ambalappuzha.
The CPI is the LDF’s second-largest constituent after the CPI(M).
- Who
- CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam criticised the previous LDF government’s liquor policy.
- What
- He said the policy failed to deliver expected changes and questioned its different distance limits for toddy shops and bars.
- When
- Friday.
- Where
- At a state meeting of the Kerala Chethu Thozhilali Union in Kottayam.
- Why
- Viswam said the government had not implemented the changes people expected and that the policy was not aligned with its stated position.
Policy Criticism
Previous Government’s Policy
Implementation of expected changes
Policy Criticism
Binoy Viswam said the government failed to implement the changes people expected, including the planned transformation of toddy shops.
Previous Government’s Policy
The article does not include a response from the previous LDF government defending its implementation.
Distance limits
Policy Criticism
Viswam said the different limits for toddy shops, bars and five-star bars lacked scientific or policy logic.
Previous Government’s Policy
The previous policy prescribed different limits: 400 metres for toddy shops, 50 metres for bars, and 150 or 200 metres for five-star bars.
- Speaker
- Binoy Viswam, CPI state secretary
- Location
- Kottayam, Kerala
- Policy criticised
- The previous LDF government’s liquor policy
- Toddy-shop distance limit
- 400 metres from schools and religious places
- Bar distance limit
- 50 metres
- Five-star bar distance limit
- 150 or 200 metres
- Constituencies mentioned
- Vaikom, Thaliparamba, Payyanur and Ambalappuzha