On Sunday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose to seek absolute ban on liquor consumption and production in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, drawing severe flak and ridicule from the ruling Samajwadi Party. SP further accused him of making certain “negative comments” about the state that could pose as hindrance to the development.
“Nitish Kumar has been coming here often, targeting UP; his comments against the SP government will embolden communal forces against which we are fighting,” SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary stated in his statement to the media soon after. Nitish, who had prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol in his state this April, had visited Lucknow, after his much spoken and recent trip to Varanasi, where he had also talked about the ban.
He had remarked that initially, people would face issues for a couple of days with the ban coming to the effect but shall eventually acquiesce with it. He then urged his neighbour to ensure that liquor was not available even near the UP-Bihar state border. Nitish had also asked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement such an absolute ban in states where BJP is the ruling party.
Source: The Times of India.
Picture(s): Agencies.
