Former Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan on Sunday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's new liquor policy was politically motivated to attract voters before the upcoming civic body elections in the capital and the Assembly polls in Punjab. He called the policy an eyewash and questioned why opening of liquor stores was suspended for only a year, PTI reported.

In the same vein, Bhushan raised doubts about the legality of the "mohalla sabhas" that have been entrusted with the task of deciding whether to shut down a liquor shop in a particular area, dna reported. The Swaraj Abhiyan co-founder said, "Does Kejriwal want to resume his anti-people liquor policy after the elections in Delhi and Assembly polls in Punjab? The Delhi government has no interest in passing the Swaraj Bill that will grant legal sanction to the units of mohalla sabhas."

According to the Delhi government's new policy, no new liquor shop will be allowed to open in the city this year, other than in shopping malls. The mohalla sabhas will decide on the fate of the existing stores. Women will constitute at least half the members of these groups.

The AAP and Swaraj Abhiyan locked horns over wine shops earlier, as well. Members of Swaraj Abhiyan had demanded that liquor shops be shut down in areas where local residents were opposed to them.