Does it have a vote stink?

Mumbai, Aug. 28: You will be able to buy your favourite red wine from the local paan shop if Sharad Pawar has his way.

The Union agriculture minister wants wine to be sold as a non-alcoholic beverage, sharing shelf-space with soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Wines’ alcohol content usually ranges between 5 and 15 per cent ? which is much lower than that of hard drinks like whisky, rum or vodka. But it’s still high compared with beer, which is not sold as a soft drink.

Pawar’s maths, of course, relates more to votes rather than alcohol content. The Nationalist Congress Party president is eyeing the state’s wine industry, which boasts 35 wineries concentrated in his stronghold of western Maharashtra.

The Maratha leader, who has been aggressively pursuing the growth of farm incomes, popped the suggestion at the annual conference of the Grape Growers’ Association in Pune this week.

“Wine isn’t the same as liquor. There is a need to change our attitude towards wine for the betterment of grape growers,” he said.

Enthusiastic wine growers say that such a move could bring down the price of a bottle of local wine, which now costs upwards of Rs 400, to Rs 200.

Although Pawar’s proposal applies to the whole country, the immediate political fermentation has been in his home state.

If the Democratic Front government is at all tickled at the idea of turning Balasaheb Thackeray’s favourite pre-siesta thirst-quencher into the people’s drink, it is also afraid of his party’s wrath. The state had three years ago mooted declaring beer a soft drink only to hastily shelve the idea after a storm of protests.

Asked about the Union agriculture minister’s proposal at his weekly cabinet briefing, Congressman chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh quickly passed the question to his deputy from Pawar’s party, R.R. Patil.

Reluctant to contradict his party boss and political mentor, Patil “welcomed” the suggestion but parried the question. “No such proposal has come before the state cabinet so far,” he said.

The Opposition has poured scorn on the idea. The Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi and BJP’s Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari have declared their parties will resist any effort to implement the proposal.

The wine industry, of course, is all for it.

“Pawarsaheb’s suggestion is good. Our only concern is that beer should not follow wine onto the soft-drink shelf,” Vishwas More of Nasik-based Sailo Wines said. “A boost to the wine industry will raise farm incomes at our wineries, which provide nine-month seasonal employment to farm labourers.”

More said a piffling percentage of the state’s total grape produce goes into wine-making; so Pawar’s move could exploit the sector’s “true” potential. “Abroad, they make wine with 99 per cent of their grape produce. With government support, wine prices here could dip below Rs 200, so that the common man could afford it,” he said.