Lack of booze hits Goa hard this poll season

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While the Election Commission is bent on ensuring that the Assembly polls in Goa are not influenced by alcohol, the strict deadline of 11 pm for serving booze at pubs and shacks are driving tourists away.

Tito’s Lane, with world renowned nightclubs like Tito’s and Mambos and the ever-popular lounge bar Cape Town, is perhaps the most happening place in North Goa at night. However, this election season, the road wears a deserted look.

While Indian tourists are at least aware of the election procedures and booze embargos that go with it, foreigners are at a loss at this sudden uncool avatar of the state.

“What the hell? Where did everyone go?” asks Peter Krib from Moscow when he, along with girlfriend Sasha, arrived at Tito’s lane for a night of dance and drinks on Monday night.

Peter and Sasha were looking forward to spending a week in “cheap” Goa as a culmination of their India tour before heading back home.

However, the “cheap” quotient of Goa, which is mainly the booze, is unavailable these days after 11 pm and March 1 and March 3 (polling day) will be dry days. Like Peter and Sasha, hundreds of English, Israelis and Russians are at a loss at this sudden transformation.

“I can’t even get beer at night,” said Jack Roubert from Hereford, UK. Of course, the smart ones buy their booze before the shops close and stock up in their rooms. But that is not the same as sipping a cocktail in a beach shack next to the crashing waves under a star-lit sky.

The restriction will stay in place for three more days after the polls till the counting is done. While there would be restrictions only for a few days during the earlier elections, the two-month booze hiatus has hit tourism hard with some sources saying that tourist inflow has gone down by as much as 40 per cent.

The standard joke among Goans now is: If you want booze, go to the candidates.