Will not oppose if govt lifts liquor ban: RJD

Patna: Amid mounting pressure from the NDA allies to review the decade-old Bihar prohibition law, the RJD added a curious twist to the story on Wednesday, stating it will not oppose it if the state govt decides to lift the liquor ban.

Interacting with reporters in the portico of the state assembly on Wednesday, four-time RJD legislator Bhai Birendra said his party firmly stood with the govt over the “liquor ban”, and if it decides to lift it, they would have no objection. Birendra, who won from the Maner assembly seat in Patna, is considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad.


“We strongly supported the govt (in 2016) when it decided to enforce a total liquor ban... Lekin agar wo kanoon ka samiksha karna chahte hain, kholna chahte hain toh ham kabhi virodh nahin karenge (But if the govt now wants to review the ban and lift it, then we won’t oppose),” Birendra said.

When asked specifically if his party is in favour of lifting the liquor ban, he claimed his party strongly backed the govt’s move to enforce the liquor ban. “Lekin unko kholna hai to kholen, hamko koi aapatti nahin hai (But they have no objection to the govt’s plan to lift the ban),” he stated. He alleged the liquor ban exists only on paper in Bihar.

RJD MLC Sunil Kumar Singh, on the other hand, claimed the liquor ban is a complete failure and even challenged to prove his claim on the last date of the assembly session. “Feb 27 is the last day of the House session. You all must remain present here. I will show you how the consignment of liquor is delivered here,” he told reporters.

So far, RLM and HAM(S), two allies of the NDA with ministerial representation in the current House, have sought a review of the liquor law. “Prohibition is causing significant financial losses to the Bihar govt, and Nitish Kumar should address this,” HAM(S) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi told the reporters last week. While RLM MLA Madhav Anand said, “It is high time the liquor law must be reviewed to know what the people of the state got, whether their economic condition improved, and how much revenue loss the state faced.”

However, parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the govt implemented the law after factoring in potential revenue losses and remains committed to continuing with it. “The law was implemented with full awareness that the govt would suffer revenue losses. Despite financial losses, the state has performed well on all development indicators,” the minister told the reporters.