HYDERABAD: Beer sales generally spike in the summers, not when the mercury goes south. This logic has, however, been turned on its head in Telangana. Thanks to the November 30 assembly elections, the state is going through an unseasonal beer festival.
Sources in the excise department told TOI that between November 1 and November 20, about 22 lakh cases of beer were sold across the state.During the same period last year, some 12 lakh cases were sold.
Though there is a marginal increase in overall liquor sales, too, for the same period, compared to 2022, sources said many politicians and candidates had stocked up on what they thought was the favourite tipple of voters in their constituency, even before the model code of conduct came into force. They are now releasing this stock without catching the eye of the election officials.
Compared to beer, hard liquor sales have been tepid, but many observers say this may not give the real picture. Between November 1 and November 20, Rs 1,470 crore worth of liquor was sold as against Rs 1,260 crore, showing a marginal increase of only Rs 210 crore. “Like beer, candidates have already stored a lot of stuff. In the past month, liquor worth more than Rs 100 crore was seized by the authorities, which can only be the tip of the iceberg,” said a government official.
Sources further said that since the Election Commission had ordered the closure of liquor shops from November 28 to end of voting on November 30, many had already made arrangements with shops to slip to them a large stock when needed.
The scenario was different in the 2018 election, when liquor sales dipped just before the voting day. There was adrop of about 35% drop in sales then when compared to the same period in 2017. Election Commission authorities had attributed that to strict monitoring by them.
