Political Candidate With ‘Unconventional’ Platform Promises Free Whisky and Beer to Lower-Income Groups if Elected

A candidate running in India’s Lok Sabha election is promising free whisky and beer to lower-income individuals. (Photo: Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Prag News reported on Sunday that Vanita Raut, an independent candidate running in India’s Lok Sabha election, is offering free whisky and beer to lower-income individuals if she wins.

Raut is the candidate from the Akhil Bhartiya Manavata Paksha party and hails from Chimur village. Her promise was met with some backlash and the outlet reported that in previous elections when she espoused similar views, she faced “electoral penalties.”

Part of Raut’s “unconventional proposal” consists of building beer bars in each village, and offering free imported liquor from her Member of Parliament budget.

“Where there is a village, there is a beer bar,” Prag News reported the candidate claimed. “These are my poll issues.”

Her reasoning stems from the fact that lower-income individuals are more likely to consume tainted, homemade liquor, which can have dire repercussions.

In December 2022, 31 people died and 20 were hospitalized from drinking allegedly tainted bootleg alcohol in Eastern India. The individuals were from the Saran district which enforces prohibition.

Raut also intends to remove the stigma behind alcohol consumption. She proposed offering her constituents access to regulated liquor and requiring vendors to purchase licenses to encourage accountability.

India Today reported that Raut suggested adults obtain licenses to drink alcohol, promoting a highly regulated system between alcohol vendors and consumers.

“Extremely poor people toil hard and find solace in drinking liquor. But they cannot afford quality whiskey or beer,” Vanita Raut said according to India Today. “They get to drink only country liquor and there is no limit to the quantity they consume, so they pass out. Hence I want them to experience imported liquor and enjoy it. I want them to enjoy and enjoy only.”

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