Slamming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "not paying heed" to the opposition's suggestions for amendments to the "draconian" provisions of the state's prohibition law, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today demanded an "immediate all-party meeting" to build a consensus on the issue.
"BJP has been in favour of the prohibition law right from the beginning, but it had opposed some draconian and Talibani provisions in it...Now that the state government is facing flak from the people and staring at the prospect of quashing of the liqour law by the Supreme Court, it has mooted amendment to the law," he said.
Provisions like imprisonment of all the adult members of the family if liqour bottles are found in a household, collective fine and seizure of properties are some of the "draconian" provisions the BJP has been opposing.
Now that the state government was "opening up" to the idea of withdrawing some "draconian and Talibani" provisions in the liqour law, it should immediately convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue and seek a consensus on it, Modi said.
He described the chief minister's statement that he was open to suggestions on amendments to the prohibition law as a "victory of the opposition".
Prohibition, he claimed, had failed in Bihar, despite stringent provisions, in the backdrop of the seizure of three lakh litre of liqour and arrest of 18,000 people.
The BJP leader also questioned the state government for advertisements in newspapers soliciting suggestions for amendments to the liqour law. He termed it "drama" and asked whether the hundreds of suggestions received so far in this regard were not enough.
The Bihar government enforced total prohibition in the state from April 5 and enacted the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 during the Monsoon Session of the Assembly to lend more teeth to the enforcement of the ban, which came under sharp attack from the people and opposition parties.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
