Hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the deaths in Bihar's Gopalganj district due to consumption of spurious liquor, the BJP on Wednesday accused his government of covering up the matter and asked it to own responsibility for the unfortunate incident.
The party said it was in favour of a liquor ban in Bihar but did not favour any 'Tughlaqi diktat' over it.
"More than 12 deaths have been reported till now in the unfortunate incident at Gopalganj. Who is responsible? The Janata Dal-United government will have to take the responsibility," Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told a press conference here.
Accusing the state government of "covering up" the alleged hooch tragedy, Hussain, a former union minister, said: "They are now covering up the incident. He (Nitish) has put in place a policy (to ban liquor) but the intention is politics and not public welfare."
"In the name of the liquor ban, we are not in favour of the Tughlaqi diktat. If an empty bottle of liquor is found in anybody's house then there is a provision for fine, which is not acceptable to the BJP. Despite the liquor ban, factories are there," the BJP leader said.
Hussain said the Bihar people had made Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister with lots of hope but nowadays he discusses nothing but liquor prohibition.
"He is pitching for liquor prohibition and touring various states but discusses nothing but prohibition. He can't do away with his responsibilities merely by prohibiting liquor. He will have to establish the rule of law," he said.
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"With a ban on liquor, there should be an end to crime also," he added.
The death toll in the Gopalganj tragedy climbed to 13 on Wednesday.
--IANS
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