NEW DELHI: The death of 39 persons in Bihar’s latest hooch tragedy loudly echoed in Parliament, with BJP members blaming police for the poor enforcement of prohibition and asking Centre to look into the failure which has resulted in thousands of crores in bribes to police and a poor law and order situation.
In Lok Sabha, BJP member Sanjay Jaiswal made the sensational charge that police had so far made more than Rs 10,000 crore from bootleggers.
In RS, BJP members also sought to raise the hooch tragedy amid an uproar by opposition benches over their demand for a discussion on the Centre’s alleged misuse of investigating agencies.
“The Centre should take stock of the law and order situation in the state and act against the Mahagatbandhan government which is behind the deaths of people. The (illegal) liquor business (in Bihar) is police sponsored”, said Jaiswal, the state BJP chief. “We have been raising this matter since 2016. . this has been happening with the connivance of the police. Supurious liquor is delivered all across Bihar at doorsteps of people sponsored by the police,” Jaiswal said amid disruptions. He also stressed that no police officer has been proceeded against so far.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy also forcefully raised the matter.
BJP’s aggression came a day after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar ‘s outburst in Bihar assemtbly where he dubbed the BJP MLAs as drunkards and partners of those in the hooch business, and coincided with his “jo piyega, wo marega” remark widely seen as insensitive to the families. The saffron party’s charge of massive corruption in police, while reflecting a rampant angst, is sure to anger the CM, who has held the charege of the home department through his 17 year-long innings.
Nitish promulgated the prohibition policy, in what was seen as a dramatic shift on the part of a CM who increased the number of liquor vends and would cite the jump in excise revenue as an evidence of ‘sushasan’, when he headed a coaliition with RJD. However, BJP extended its support to the policy when the two sides revived their coalition.
The ban has annoyed a large section of the society, with the discontent stretching beyond the tipplers and those engaged in the highly lucrative and flourishing liquor trade. The policy, draconian in its original avatar as it allowed for the confiscation of properties and arrests of persons following discovery of liquor bottles on their premises, has resulted in imprisonment of 3. 7 lakh, an overwhelming majority of them Dalits and backwards. The huge number of liquor cases have clogged courts, dismaying even the Supreme Court.
It has also resulted in the corrosion of law-enforcement, with police focused more on dealing with liquor traders than basic policing amid charges of corruption.
BJP, just like other parties, considered the policy to be flawe and its implementation chaotic and corruption-ridden. But they were encumbered by going against a policy pitched by the chief minister as social reform and because of the initial belief that it was received well by women. The results of recent Kurhani by-election, the first contest which saw prohibition on the ticket and where BJP upset the fancied Mahagathbandhan has unshackled them from the fear of a backlash.
While it has been careful not to oppose the prohibition policy lest it was accused of backing the liquor lobby and opportunism, it has started nibbling at the edges of the forbidden political issue by raising the issue of corruption, demanding compensation for families of the deceased and by highlighting that those put behind the bars are mostly poor, backwards and Dalits.
BJP is peeved with Nitish Kumar for what Sushil Modi, senior most party leader in the state, describes as his “inensitive political haughtiness”. Modi, deputy to Nitish Kumar in three NDA coalitions, said that “emotional fragility” of Nitish Kumar is now very much an issue for us. “I have never believed in makiing personal attacks. But the public displays of fury raise an issue which has a direct bearing on the welfare of people. He comes across as insensitive and stubborn,” the former deputy CM told TOI.
The social and class composition of the arrested that BJP has flagged has been a concern for leaders of JD(U) and RJD as well. Nitish himself appeared to be reflecting the disquiet on Thursday when he said that he had asked his officers to be lenient with the poor. This, however, may not bring respite to the imprisoned, besides throwing up the challenge of implementation in the poorest state where upper castes have only a 10% population share.
In Lok Sabha, BJP member Sanjay Jaiswal made the sensational charge that police had so far made more than Rs 10,000 crore from bootleggers.
In RS, BJP members also sought to raise the hooch tragedy amid an uproar by opposition benches over their demand for a discussion on the Centre’s alleged misuse of investigating agencies.
“The Centre should take stock of the law and order situation in the state and act against the Mahagatbandhan government which is behind the deaths of people. The (illegal) liquor business (in Bihar) is police sponsored”, said Jaiswal, the state BJP chief. “We have been raising this matter since 2016. . this has been happening with the connivance of the police. Supurious liquor is delivered all across Bihar at doorsteps of people sponsored by the police,” Jaiswal said amid disruptions. He also stressed that no police officer has been proceeded against so far.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy also forcefully raised the matter.
BJP’s aggression came a day after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar ‘s outburst in Bihar assemtbly where he dubbed the BJP MLAs as drunkards and partners of those in the hooch business, and coincided with his “jo piyega, wo marega” remark widely seen as insensitive to the families. The saffron party’s charge of massive corruption in police, while reflecting a rampant angst, is sure to anger the CM, who has held the charege of the home department through his 17 year-long innings.
Nitish promulgated the prohibition policy, in what was seen as a dramatic shift on the part of a CM who increased the number of liquor vends and would cite the jump in excise revenue as an evidence of ‘sushasan’, when he headed a coaliition with RJD. However, BJP extended its support to the policy when the two sides revived their coalition.
The ban has annoyed a large section of the society, with the discontent stretching beyond the tipplers and those engaged in the highly lucrative and flourishing liquor trade. The policy, draconian in its original avatar as it allowed for the confiscation of properties and arrests of persons following discovery of liquor bottles on their premises, has resulted in imprisonment of 3. 7 lakh, an overwhelming majority of them Dalits and backwards. The huge number of liquor cases have clogged courts, dismaying even the Supreme Court.
It has also resulted in the corrosion of law-enforcement, with police focused more on dealing with liquor traders than basic policing amid charges of corruption.
BJP, just like other parties, considered the policy to be flawe and its implementation chaotic and corruption-ridden. But they were encumbered by going against a policy pitched by the chief minister as social reform and because of the initial belief that it was received well by women. The results of recent Kurhani by-election, the first contest which saw prohibition on the ticket and where BJP upset the fancied Mahagathbandhan has unshackled them from the fear of a backlash.
While it has been careful not to oppose the prohibition policy lest it was accused of backing the liquor lobby and opportunism, it has started nibbling at the edges of the forbidden political issue by raising the issue of corruption, demanding compensation for families of the deceased and by highlighting that those put behind the bars are mostly poor, backwards and Dalits.
BJP is peeved with Nitish Kumar for what Sushil Modi, senior most party leader in the state, describes as his “inensitive political haughtiness”. Modi, deputy to Nitish Kumar in three NDA coalitions, said that “emotional fragility” of Nitish Kumar is now very much an issue for us. “I have never believed in makiing personal attacks. But the public displays of fury raise an issue which has a direct bearing on the welfare of people. He comes across as insensitive and stubborn,” the former deputy CM told TOI.
The social and class composition of the arrested that BJP has flagged has been a concern for leaders of JD(U) and RJD as well. Nitish himself appeared to be reflecting the disquiet on Thursday when he said that he had asked his officers to be lenient with the poor. This, however, may not bring respite to the imprisoned, besides throwing up the challenge of implementation in the poorest state where upper castes have only a 10% population share.
