JOIN USTejashwi Yadav raises questions on liquor ban in Bihar
Ahead of an assessment meeting on liquor ban, leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has raised 15 questions and asked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to deliberate on them.
If Nitish Kumar fails to do so, then the assessment meeting would be nothing but a "sham", Tejashwi Yadav asserted.
While sharing the questions on his Facebook page, he sought the Chief Minister's reply on the number of assessment meetings he has convened ever since the liquor ban was imposed on Bihar in April 2016.
He also wanted to know the "positive outcomes" of the "thousands of meetings" held by Nitish Kumar in the last six years.
"The Nitish Kumar regime has arrested lakhs of poor and Dalits under the Liquor Prohibition Act. Majority of them have been implicated. The actual liquor mafias are still beyond the government's reach. Can Nitish Kumar provide data of how many mafias, liquor operators, smugglers and police officials have been sent to jail?" he asked.
Alleging that the state government is hand-in-glove with liquor mafias, he said after every big seizure of consignments by police, it is unable to reach the actual operators.
"If anyone is arrested, the officials present weak charge-sheets in the court, weakening the case. Will the Chief Minister answer as to how many cases has the Bihar government filed in the Supreme court after it lost in lower courts and Patna High Court?"
The Chief Minister should also clarify on the termination of DSPs, SPs and SSPs rank officers under Liquor Prohibition Act, the leader of opposition said.
"Are they not responsible for liquor tragedies? Sadly, only chowkidars and SHO rank officers are suspended or terminated after hooch kills people.
"The Nitish Kumar government suspends SHO and below rank personnel every time a liquor tragedy occurs in the state. Eighty per cent police personnel rejoin the service after few weeks or months. Are the lower grade cops just a scapegoat to save higher rank officials"
"How many JD(U) leaders and police officers consume liquor in the state?" he queried.
Tejashwi Yadav also questioned Nitish Kumar on the action initiated against the brother of Cabinet minister Ram Surat Rai.
"We have given enough proofs against him to the state government," he said.
"We have submitted video evidence against senior leaders of JD(U), vice president of Sithamarhi district of JD(U), block president of Nalanda, what actions have been taken in this regard?"
"When we present proofs in the state Assembly, the Chief Minister laughs under his face mask. For him, the Chief Minister's chair is more important than the liquor ban," he alleged. Please clarify on questions asked inside the house," he demanded.
He also questioned the Chief Minister on the 65 spurious liqour deaths in the past 15 days in four districts of the state.
"How did the liquor consignments reach those districts which are not connected with any border of other state or Nepal," Tejashwi asked.
"If the state government has seized lakhs of litres of liquor, how it reach Bihar? Who is responsible for it?"
He also said if any liquor mafia wins any election, the entire party leaders go to congratulate him. He sought the Chief Minister's clarification on it.
Nitish Kumar's assessment meeting will get underway in the afternoon.
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