Shops closed, but liquor vends open: Surjewala attacks Haryana govt

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday alleged that while shops were open only till 5 pm as per COVID restrictions in five districts of Haryana, liquor vends remain open.Shops closed, but liquor vends open. Khattar-Dushyant ji believe that Covid-19 would not come to liquor vends, nor would it spread there, the Congress spokesperson said in a tweet in Hindi.Haryana elected these people

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday alleged that while shops were open only till 5 pm as per COVID restrictions in five districts of Haryana, liquor vends remain open.

''Shops closed, but liquor vends open. Khattar-Dushyant ji believe that Covid-19 would not come to liquor vends, nor would it spread there,'' the Congress spokesperson said in a tweet in Hindi.

''Haryana elected these people? Will they run Haryana like this? Do shopkeepers spread corona but not liquor vends,'' he asked.

In the tweet, he also tagged a short interaction which Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala -- who also holds the Excise portfolio -- had with reporters in Gohana a day earlier with reporters.

In Gohana, when asked about the different closing times for liquor vends and other shops, Chautala replied saying that the matter was within the purview of Deputy Commissioner.

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Haryana, authorities had on January 1 ordered closure of cinema halls, multiplexes, and sports complexes in five districts of Ambala, Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Sonipat from January 2 to 12.

Malls and markets were allowed to open till 5 pm during this period in these districts.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Excise and Taxation department on Tuesday said liquor vends have been ordered to remain closed by 5 pm in the five districts and police departments have been asked to ensure they are shut within the stipulated time.

A night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am is already in force throughout Haryana.

Among other restrictions which the Haryana government has imposed to check the spread of the virus, those eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated are banned from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants, and grain markets, among other crowded places, across the state since January 1.