Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that a grand alliance of opposition parties, similar to that in Bihar on the national level could stop the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
"As the grand-alliance was successful here, if it is emulated on the national level, it could achieve grand success," Kumar said.
The Janata Dal United (JDU) leader said that he held talks with other Left leaders and the Congress in this regard and asked them to take an initiative to throw the BJP-led NDA alliance out of power.
Kumar further said that being the oldest party, the Congress should take the responsibility of brining all other opposition parties on the same platform.
The architect of grand alliance in Bihar said that there is no dearth of leaders for the post of Prime Minister.
Kumar also defended his government's decision to ban sale and consumption of liquor stating that the loss of lives can never be equated to loss of state's revenue post the ban.
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Admitting that the revenues of the state dipped post the decision, Kumar asserted that the ban enforced the people to buy other essential items instead of liquor which has only helped the market economy to grow.
"It is true that the treasury might get affected, but it will stop people from buying liquor. Those who are thinking of revenue losses, forget to think the harm it might cause to people. At least 10,000 crore rupees which used to be spend by people, have been saved. If people stop spending their money on alcohol it will be used to buy some other essential items," he said.
The Chief Mister's remarks comes in the wake of the Supreme Court order which prohibited restaurants and shops selling liquor within 500 metres along the state and national highways from selling alcohol.
Hearing a batch of petitions seeking modification of its December 2016 order banning liquor outlets within 500 metres of state and national highways across the country, the apex court bench, headed by, Chief Justice Khehar reserved the order.
Several states, including Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana and Haryana and various others had told the apex court that 500-metre distance is much higher and should be reduced.