Poll-time boom in booze business

As the elections near, the bootlegging business in western Uttar Pradesh revs into a higher gear. Over the years, politicians have found liquor is indeed quicker when it comes to buying votes.

The sugarcane fields along the Ganges in this region are the favourite haunts for bootleggers. With good reason — you get everything you need to distill the illicit stuff. There’s good cover — high grass and dense foliage make it difficult to locate hideouts. And there is lots of water fuel and raw material. The hooch is made from molasses, which is made from sugarcane.

Politicians place bulk orders and their men pick up the consignments to distribute among voters. A small unit can make about a thousand bottles a day. And the pickings are rich enough for the fairly well-off to be attracted to the trade.

Two to three labourers can operate a medium-sized operation. They are usually underpaid — the only consolation for them is that the bottle or two they get at the end of the day’s work.

Come campaign season the police make sporadic attempts to crack down on the illicit liquor trade, but usually without much success. This time around too they are putting an anti-liquor drive in place. But no one here is betting that the pre-poll bottle will not affect the outcome of the electoral battle.