9.5 days out of 15: Bengal faces longest pre-poll drought period

KOLKATA: Bengal will have to go through an unprecedented continuous dry spell – lasting nine-and-a-half days for the next two weeks starting from Monday – due to the upcoming elections.These orders from the respective district authorities have shocked the hotel industry and those who enjoy drinking in the evening. EC officials claimed they simply wanted to comply with the regulatory water ban period (48 hours before voting), but senior figures in the tax department and district administration insisted they were acting on “verbal orders from those monitoring elections in Bangladesh”.Officials monitoring the polls have spotted an “unusual surge” in liquor sales, raising concerns about voter appeal and have alerted the excise department, sources said.There are 5,000 bars and outlets in the state with daily sales of Rs 80-90 crore. The losses to the liquor and hospitality industry across the state are estimated to be over Rs 1,400 crore, of which Rs 9 billion was lost in Kolkata alone.