Failing to get 'kick', MP man complains of liquor adulteration; Excise official assures probe
Ujjain, May 8: A 42-year-old man from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh has complained to authorities about a shop allegedly selling him adulterated liquor as he did not get a "kick" after consuming it, following which the excise commissioner here has asked officials to conduct a probe into the matter and take action accordingly.
Lokesh Sothia, a resident of Bahadur Ganj area in Ujjain, in his complaint said he bought four sealed 'quarter' bottles of country liquor from a shop here on April 12.
"My friend and I consumed liquor from two of those bottles (each of 180 ml), but I did not feel high (intoxicated)," Sothia, who operates a parking lot, told PTI.
The man claimed the bottles contained water instead of liquor.
"I have kept the two other bottles intact, to be submitted as proof when required. There had been reports of adulteration in food, oil and other things, now it is being done in liquor as well. This is very disturbing. I am going to move the consumer forum," Sothia said, adding that he has been consuming liquor for last two decades and is "well aware of its taste and quality".
The man said he has sent a complaint to Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra and Ujjain Excise Commission Inder Singh Damor about the "adulterated liquor" sold to him.
When contacted, Damor told PTI on Saturday that he has asked an official to look into Sothia's complaint. "After the probe, action will be taken accordingly," he added.
Sothia's lawyer Narendra Singh Dhakde said they would file a cheating case in a consumer forum.
My client runs a paid parking lot. He has been drinking for many years and knows the difference between genuine and fake liquor," the lawyer said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
