New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- C. Rajagopalachari was, by instinct, a free marketeer. As chief minister of the erstwhile Madras state, he abolished controls on foodgrains as well as public procurement and increased their market availability. Yet, he braved pouring rain in his old age and went to plead with M. Karunanidhi, who was by then chief minister of the state (renamed Tamil Nadu) not to withdraw the prevailing prohibition on alcohol and arrack sales. This ban had made some parts of the alcohol preparation and sales business go underground. Illicit liquor had emerged and some died chasing it. But the absence of easy and lawful availability was a huge deterrent to consumption.

Given how dirt-poor India was in those days, Rajagopalachari was w...