No booze for Darjeeling during Indian Ido

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/no-booze-for-darjeeling-during-i ndian-idol-finals/48882-19.html

Darjeeling/Kolkata: Indian Idol contestant Prashat Tamang surely enjoys a huge fan base in his hometown, Darjeeling, but the frenzy over his selection to the finals, has the district administration worried.

Fearing raucous parties, it has ordered all liquor shops to remain closed from September 22 to September 24 from 5:00 pm onwards. The finals for Indian Idol are scheduled on September 23.

"We have received reports that in some localities people especially the young crowd is getting out of control. So we have taken this decision to close all off-shops from September 22 to September 24 from 5:00 pm onwards, so that we don't have to face any untoward incident," says District Magistrate, Darjeeling, Rajesh Pandey.

The decision comes as a surprise to both customers and liquor shop owners.

"I don't think that there is going to be much of a difference. If they want to shut liquor shops that they should issue a notice," says a liquor owner, Kishore.

But the prospect of a dry celebration isn't dampening the spirits of Prashant's fans.

Hundreds of them have been sending in their votes for him round the clock through SMS and phone.

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Volunteers in Kalimpong vote for Prashant at a special booth. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha)

Darjeeling, Sept. 18: Say hello to Indian Idol and bye to a drink in the evening.

The Darjeeling administration has ordered "all foreign liquor off shops and country spirit shops" in the hills shut after 5pm over the weekend and on Monday.

The fear: frenzied celebrations or mourning, depending on how Prashant Tamang fares in the final round of the talent hunt show.

The winner will be declared at 9pm on Sunday after over a week's voting.

Frenzy and Prashant fans go hand in hand. They have spent crores buying mobile recharge cards to SMS their votes or sponsored booths for others to vote through landlines. They have also laid siege to service providers' offices, accusing them of not delivering the votes to the Sony TV server.

In Kalimpong, leaflets today ordered Lepcha groups on hunger strike against hydel power projects in North Sikkim to concentrate on voting for Prashant instead.

The Prashant Fan Club in Darjeeling had recently requested the district magistrate to crack down on watering holes in town.

Prashant, from Darjeeling, is a police constable in Calcutta.