THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan on Friday said that by allowing beer and wine licences to 418 closed bars, the UDF government had practically paved the way for the functioning of all the bars in the state.

In the wake of the cabinet decision, KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran had no right to continue in his post, he said and asked him to resign without delay.

At a press conference, Mr Achuthanandan said Mr Sudheeran had gone around the state making tall claims about the UDF’s prohibition policy. But Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had discarded his position and sabotaged the liquor policy.

“Now when Sudheeran’s yatra has reached Thiruvananthapuram from Kasargod, all bars are up and functioning,” he said.

He sought to know the stand of KCBC and other organisations which had hailed the government decision to close down the bars.

The decision to allow 418 bars to sell beer and wine was a licence to sell IMFL clandestinely, he alleged.

“The closure of bars was a government-created smokescreen to take bribes worth crores of rupees. This is the biggest fraud committed on the people of the state in the recent past,” he alleged.

By announcing the change in policy just a couple of hours after the conclusion of the Assembly session, Mr Chandy had even reduced the House to a mere spectator.