Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief spokesperson Sourabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday said that if Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta makes the minimum age of buying liquor in BJP ruled states 25 years then we will make it 30 years in Delhi too.

He said that the legal age of drinking alcohol in the BJP ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh is 21 years. In BJP ruled Goa it is 18 years. He said that the BJP is saying all these to protect black markets and financial misappropriations.

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Bhardwaj said if people below 21-year age go to restaurants and pub then the police extort money for this from the restaurant owners and this money goes to the top. He said that the BJP leaders should ask the Central Government to make a law that the age of drinking alcohol in the whole country should be 25 years; this will bring uniformity.

Bhardwaj said, “I am surprised to see the hypocrisy of the BJP. Till now no one has seen such hypocrisy inside any political party. It is very clear that the BJP is fully shameless.  Within the BJP-ruled states, the legal age of liquor consumption is 21 years for many years. It is 21 years in dozens of states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh. The BJP has ruled for 15 years in Goa where the legal age is 18 years.”

Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “I challenge Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta and LOP Ramveer Vidhuri to bring this age back to 25 years in the BJP ruled states then will make it 30 years. This is BJP’s attempt to steal revenue and protect black marketing. If you go to a restaurant where liquor is served, you often see youth who are 21-year-old. The police and other departments raid these premises and extort money from the restaurant owners. This money goes to the top. By our decision, this malpractice will be stopped and that is why BJP is upset.”

Legal age of liquor consumption in different states is as follows: 

Goa 18

Himachal Pradesh 18

Jammu and Kashmir 18

Karnataka 18

Ladakh 18

Rajasthan 18

Sikkim 18

Andhra Pradesh 18

Puducherry 18

Uttar Pradesh 21

Uttarakhand 21

Madhya Pradesh 21

Tripura 21

Assam 21

Telangana 21

Jharkhand 21

Maharashtra 21

Manipur 21

Tamil Nadu 21

West Bengal 21

Andaman-Nicobar 21

Chhattisgarh 21

Meghalaya 21

Odisha 21

Kerala 23

Punjab 25

Chandigarh 25

Dadra 25

Haryana 25