After holding public hearings through concerted campaigns, Swaraj Abhiyan, the splinter group of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now raised a red flag against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for concealing truth on distribution of new liquor licenses after coming to power.

After holding public hearings through concerted campaigns, Swaraj Abhiyan, the splinter group of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now raised a red flag against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for concealing the truth on distribution of new liquor licenses after coming to power.

Yogendra Yadav, the founding member of Swaraj Abhiyan and the expelled national executive member of AAP has challenged Kejriwal to tell the truth in public about the issuance of 399 new liquor licenses in the national capital by the state government. He has also demanded a public apology from the party.

6 or 399?

My challenge to @ArvindKejriwal on truth of liquor licenses issued by AAP govt. https://t.co/id9OS5FXdT — Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) August 30, 2016

In a scathing letter written to the CM on Tuesday, Yadav has questioned the Delhi government about reasons for concealing information from the public regarding liquor licenses given to shops and restaurants.

“Your government has repeatedly claimed that AAP government has issued only six new licenses for liquor after coming to power. When Swaraj Abhiyan released different RTIs showing figures ranging from 58 to 217 new licenses, your Deputy CM claimed this was a lie…Since you have questioned us, I am constrained to respond with this challenge. I am releasing a list of 399 new licenses that AAP government has issued to liquor vends/stores and restaurants etc. It means that your government was working hard to issue almost one license every day!” Yadav has written in his letter to the CM.

Here is the list of 399 licences issued by AAP govt in Delhi.

I challenge @ArvindKejriwal to prove this is not true.https://t.co/Qs9dKEw7wk — Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) August 30, 2016

Yadav has asked Kejriwal to offer an apology to the people of Delhi for the government’s failure in keeping with its promises while seeking replies to four questions.

The four questions posed to Delhi CM by Yadav are:

1. Why is the government led by RTI activists concealing information from the public?

2. Why did the government that came to power on the promise of Nashamukti increased the supply of liquor?

3. Why did the government that promised swaraj not conforming to the existing rules of consulting local public before issuing a license?

4. Why did the AAP government not use even one crore of the 3589 crore earned from liquor for de-addiction?

“Through my letter, I have challenged Arvind to come up with the truth related to issuing of 399 liquor licenses by his government. We have been raising concerns through our campaigns regarding the Delhi government issuing liquor licenses without the consent of local residents. It is the same AAP that has gone against its promise to make Delhi addiction-free (Nashamukti) in its manifesto. The deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the Assembly claimed that only six licenses were issued. It is a lie as proven by the list of 399 licenses, which we are releasing,” Yadav told Firstpost.

Swaraj Abhiyan which was founded as a socio-political movement and has been campaigning since 7 August against the Kejriwal-led government for issuing new licenses to open liquor vendors in residential areas. The organisation recently conducted public hearings at Kasturba Nagar, Karawal Nagar and Uttam Nagar – attended by the residents, who complained against the Delhi government’s move to open liquor shops in their localities, without asking for the consent of the locals.

As per the Delhi’s Excise law, the government has to seek approval from local residents prior to opening a liquor shop in a locality.

“Based on a list of new liquor shops opened at 11 places released by us, we conducted public hearing at three places. Our next hearing will be at Burari, Model Town, Matia Mahal, Jangpura and Bonda. After coming under pressure due to our repeated campaigns, public hearings and protests made by the local residents, the CM has been compelled to announce that no new liquor shops would be opened in Delhi in the next one year, barring in malls. It has tactically been done keeping the upcoming Punjab and Delhi MCD elections in mind,” Swaraj Abhiyan’s national executive member, Anupam told Firstpost.

“Moreover, the government says that Mohalla Sabhas would take a decision on closing of the liquor vends. This is just a political rhetoric meant for media consumption. Mohalla Sabhas do not have any power or legal standing to do so. Through this sort of announcement, the government has been planning to kill Mohalla Sabhas in a way similar to what they did with Jan Lokpal,” he alleged.

Here is a copy of Yadav's letter to Kejriwal:

Yogendra Yadav Letter to Arvind Kejriwal on 399 New Liquor Shops Aug 30 by Firstpost on Scribd