But common trends associated with every election, of bribes to voters in the form of alcohol, is already becoming apparent in the State. With the election code of conduct coming into force, the illegal trade in liquor has raised its ugly head with at least five raids in less than a week that have led to the confiscation of liquor bottles worth lakhs of rupees. The code of conduct came into force on January 10 and by January 15 there had been two raids in Morjim, one in Calangute, one in Anjuna and one in Colva that netted huge amounts of illegal liquor. The total worth of the alcohol seized is close to Rs 90 lakh. Liquor is one of the items that the election office has its eyes on during the campaign period.
These are early seizures and this is not the first time that there have been such raids conducted and liquor confiscated during the election campaign period. It is also not peculiar to Goa, but is spread across the country. Bribing voters with gifts of liquor does plague the Indian election system, and going by the amount of liquor confiscated, it is growing. The extent can be gauged by the number of raids conducted and the amount confiscated. If in less than a week there have been four seizures, then in the coming four weeks before Goa votes, the raids could show a sharp increase.
The legal sale of liquor is important for the tourism trade in Goa and any restrictions have a detrimental effect on the industry. There is now a ban imposed on the sale of liquor after 11pm. In 2019, during the Lok Sabha election campaign, there had been a request made to the election office by Goa Tourism to relax the rules for those establishments that are licensed to sell liquor till after that hour. The request had come following representations by coastal tourism related establishments who claimed that this was driving away tourists and disrupting nightlife. Incidentally, all the raids that have taken place in the last week were in the coastal belt.
While all indications are that this liquor that has been confiscated would possibly be used during the campaign, one cannot rule out the illegal smuggling of bottles across the State, as there have been such instances in the past though not at election time. In December 2020 the Goa Excise Department had foiled a smuggling bid when it seized a vehicle with 66 cases of liquor being transported to Karnataka. Threre was also the case of the Maharashtra Excise Department having seized 1152 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor in Aurangabad that were being transported in a van with a false bottom. The bottles were meant for sale only in Goa and had been reportedly purchased in Goa at a lesser price and then smuggled across the border where they would be sold at a higher rate.
With the Election Commission monitoring liquor supplies across State borders and also illegal supply within the State during election time, more seizures can be expected. But what about the rest of the time, when the vigil on liquor is not so strict? Is there no hoarding of liquor or illegal sale of alcohol happening at other times? Legal sale of liquor is also a major source of revenue for the State and even during the pandemic, the excise collection had not fallen. Illegal liquor sale is loss of revenue to the State. The vigilance on illegal and smuggling of liquor cannot be only at election time but throughout the year. The government must come down on this with an iron hand.
