- Nitish Kumar’s prohibition policy in Bihar faces criticism from his NDA ally
- Jitan Ram Manjhi urges allowing moderate liquor sale and removing cases before polls
- Opposition claims prohibition law targets poor and enables police exploitation
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's prohibition policy, which has reaped political dividends for him over the years, is under attack, not just from the Opposition but from his allies in the NDA.
Jitam Ram Manjhi, once Nitish Kumar's lieutenant whom he trusted with the Chief Minister post, has said the sale of liquor in moderate amounts must be allowed and cases registered against such people must be removed before the polls. Mr Manjhi has said the prohibition enforcement officials are ignoring the liquor mafia and targeting poor people who consume limited quantities.
"Police nabs people who are drinking in small quantities. There should be a campaign against those making thousands of litres of liquor and smuggling them. During a review of the policy, Nitish Kumar had said those carrying liquor in small amounts should not be arrested," he told the media.
Mr Kumar and Mr Manjhi have an interesting history. Following JDU's drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Mr Kumar resigned as Chief Minister and put Mr Manjhi, then in JDU, in the top post. Less than a year later, Mr Kumar wanted to return as Chief Minister, but Mr Manjhi refused to step down. He was expelled from the party, after which he formed the Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular). Later, he and Mr Kumar became allies in the NDA.
The ally's public remarks against prohibition would put Mr Kumar in a tricky spot before the election, especially because rivals have earlier questioned this policy.
RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly, has said the prohibition law in Bihar has become a "tool" for the police to "mentally and economically exploit" the poor.
"This law has become an instrument in the hands of the police, a tool to exploit the underdogs economically and mentally. This can be gauged from the fact that 99 per cent of the arrested accused are tribals, Dalits and OBCs. Only one per cent belong to other social groups," he claimed in April.
"We are all for dissuading people from consuming intoxicants. But the state is witnessing a nexus between liquor smugglers and the police, which is running an extortion racket in the name of enforcing prohibition. We will keep exposing this and try to set things right when we come to power," he said.
Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj is gearing up for a poll debut in the Bihar election, has said he would remove the prohibition policy "within an hour" if his party becomes part of a ruling coalition after the polls.
In fact, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, also an NDA ally, has also questioned the prohibition law. "I believe that toddy, a natural product, must not be considered liquor," he has said.
The BJP has earlier said the decision to bring a prohibition law was taken when the JDU and RJD were part of the ruling coalition. "When the liquor prohibition law was implemented, both JD-U and RJD were in the government. BJP had no role in it," Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary has said.
