Gulf News

Bihar opposition leader demands blood test of MLAs

Sinha’s demand is a move to find out who consumes liquor that is banned in the state

- PATNA

Vijay Kumar Sinha, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, has demanded blood tests of every legislator in the state to find out who consumes liquor.

Sinha’s demand comes as the Nitish Kumar government has refused to give compensati­on to family members of those who died in the Saran illicit liquor tragedy.

“We demand from the state government to conduct blood tests of every legislator at the gate of Vidhan Sabha. It will give an idea about how many leaders who are surroundin­g Nitish Kumar used to drink liquor,” the opposition leader said.

“After the Saran hooch tragedy, the ugly face of the Nitish Kumar government appeared before the people of Bihar. As per the provision, the state government has to give compensati­on to the family members of the deceased. Instead of doing this, the current grand alliance government is not even expressing condolence­s.”

Compensati­on

Sinha went on to say that the state government had provided compensati­on during the 2016 Khajoorban­ni liquor tragedy in Gopalganj.

“On that occasion, the government had given Rs400,000 cash as compensati­on. If it gave compensati­on then, why not now?” he asked.

Sinha also claimed that compensati­ons were being given out for victims of bike accidents, whether bikers wear helmets or not. “In Saran, what is the fault of family members of the deceased? All the deceased are poor, Dalit and daily earners. If the Nitish Kumar government becomes insensitiv­e, how could they survive?”

He also alleged that the death toll in the Saran tragedy is much higher that the figure released by the state government.

“The local authority has put pressure on the family members and cremated the bodies without a post-mortem.”

The tragedy occurred on December 12 and 57 people have died after consuming the spurious liquor so far.

 ?? ANI ?? Bharatiya Janata Party legislator­s protest outside the Bihar
■
Assembly questionin­g the liquor prohibitio­n in the state in the wake of the illicit liquor tragedy in the state.
ANI Bharatiya Janata Party legislator­s protest outside the Bihar ■ Assembly questionin­g the liquor prohibitio­n in the state in the wake of the illicit liquor tragedy in the state.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates