Toddy 'natural product', must not be categorised as liquor: Chirag Paswan

Patna: Union Food Processing Minister Chirag Paswan on Monday said toddy is a "natural product" and must not categorised as liquor, which is banned in the state.

Paswan, who leads the LJP (Ram Vilas), was reacting to Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav's promise to exempt toddy-tapping from the prohibition law if his RJD came to power in the state in the assembly elections later this year.

"I have said many times that as an NDA partner, my party may be supporting the government in the state, but it is not part of the regime here. I certainly believe that toddy, a natural product, must not be considered liquor," he told reporters.

The Paswan community is traditionally known to dominate the toddy business in the state.

Addressing a convention of the Pasis in Patna on Sunday, Yadav said the prohibition law has affected the community whose only source of livelihood was toddy-tapping.

Promising to remove the ban on toddy, Yadav said the Pasi community has been doing this job for generations, and they have no other skills or agricultural land to earn a livelihood.