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Reacting on the Chapra hooch tragedy, CM Kumar said, “You will die if you consume liquor. It is evident from the current incident that liquor consumption is not good for anyone.”
Even as Bihar mourns the demise of 55 people in a hooch tragedy in Chapra, chief minister Nitish Kumar was grinning on Thursday morning when he met media persons in Patna to declare: “you will die if you drink”.
CM Kumar’s policy of liquor ban has been blamed for rising number of deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor in absence of quality-controlled packaged alcohol in the state.
Reacting on the Chapra hooch tragedy, CM Kumar said, “You will die if you consume liquor. It is evident from the current incident that liquor consumption is not good for anyone.”
Dear countrymen, listen to the cries of this poor mother!
Five of her family members died after consuming spurious liquor in Chapra in the dry state of Bihar. https://t.co/20V9aA2V1k pic.twitter.com/n5zELxBD4o
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) December 15, 2022
The Janata Dal (United) leader is facing severe criticism for failing to effectively implement the liquor prohibition law introduced by his government in 2016. Several BJP leaders have demanded that Kumar should be booked for murder every time any person dies after consuming spurious liquor in Bihar.
The state government has launched an enquiry by a special investigation team (SIT), which will comprise 3 deputy superintendent of police (DSP) level officers and 31 other cops to investigate deaths in Mashrakh and Ishauvpur areas.
Saran superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Kumar has suspended Mashrakh police station in-charge Ritesh Mishra and constable Vivek Tiwari for alleged negligence in discharging their duty. In addition, Madhaura SDPO Yogendra Kumar has also been shunted out.
The state police have detained at least 40 illegal liquor suppliers. A liquor supplier is also said to be among the victims.
As the political storm continues, chief minister Kumar has refused to take any responsibility for people losing their lives in hooch tragedies. On the contrary, he has blamed common people for consuming liquor.
“Now the opposition is shouting about the liquor ban. This law was implemented when these opposition members were in power with us (JDU). Consuming liquor is injurious to health. Government is running an awareness campaign, distributing pamphlets from home to home but people don’t understand the harmful effects of liquor,” said Kumar.
“People should understand that since liquor is banned in Bihar, they would not get alcohol that is safe to consume,” he further said, adding that the sale and consumption of liquor were banned on demand from women.
He continued: “This ban has yielded many good results in Bihar, many families are now happy because men in the family have quit consuming alcohol due to the ban. The main goal of banning liquor was to curtail such incidents.”
The issue has snowballed into a major political controversy over the “faulty” implementation of CM Kumar’s 2016 liquor prohibition law. Many senior political leaders have called the policy a “failed affair” and demanded its withdrawal.
For months, leaders of the Opposition as well as partners have been demanding the withdrawal of the liquor prohibition, arguing that liquor is easily available in every part of Bihar. A section of leaders of the ruling JDU-RJD alliance has even blamed the ban on liquor for its debacle in the recently-concluded Kurhani Assembly bypolls.
