Start liquor-ban campaign in West Bengal, Das dares Nitish
RANCHI: Chief minister Raghubar Das dared his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Saturday to start a liquor-ban campaign in West Bengal from where, he alleged, alcohol was being smuggled into the northern state after prohibition was imposed.
Bihar clamped down on India made foreign liquor on April 5, four days after it banned sale and consumption of country-made and spiced liquor. Kumar has been telling the Raghubar Das government to ban alcohol in the interests of the poor, alleging that liquor sale was being promoted in bordering areas.
The Bihar CM kicked off an anti-liquor campaign in Dhanbad district on May 10. After that he visited Jharkhand four times, advising the BJP-led government to enforce prohibition.
“Why doesn’t Nitish Kumar visit West Bengal for his campaign to ban liquor?” Das asked at a programme in Patna organised by the Teli community to felicitate him.
A large quantity of illegal liquor is being supplied to Bihar from West Bengal after prohibition but the Bihar chief minister will not go there as the state is not ruled by the BJP, he said.
“Prohibition order in Bihar is nothing but a nautanki (drama), which Nitish Kumar is using as a political tool.”
The Bihar CM’s campaign got support from opposition parties in Jharkhand, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik).
Chandra Prakash Choudhary, a legislator from the All Jharkhand Students Union (an ally of the BJP), also demanded a ban on liquor in the state.
Das said Kumar has been touring BJP-ruled states demanding ban on alcohol. “Kumar will not ask Mamata Banerjee to ban liquor in her state. He has been visiting Jharkhand where BJP government is performing well in every field,” Das said. “Kumar has no business lecturing my government on liquor ban while lawlessness prevailed across Bihar.”
He cited hoisting of a Pakistani flag in Biharsharif town of Nalanda, the home district of Nitish Kumar, to hit out at “lax administration” in Bihar.
“Law and order has deteriorated badly in Bihar but the government is silent,” he said.