Manas Banerjee, June 8 -- After Delhi, West Bengal has thrown up its own iteration of a liquor scam. The state's liquor policy was altered in 2021, allegedly at the behest of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) National General Secretary and then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, enabling the state to monopolise liquor distribution.
The new policy was designed to twist the arms of erstwhile private wholesalers into paying levies to line Abhishek's pockets to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.
According to a confidential report drawn up by the excise department, all this carving up of state revenue was carried out in the name of "averting cartelisation, transparency, equitable access of liquor to all parts ...