Bihar legislative assembly on Tuesday passed three bills in the second half without any discussion or debate amid utter pandemonium in the House as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stood firm demanding an apology from chief minister Nitish Kumar for his outburst against the BJP’s protest over yet another hooch tragedy in the state.
On Tuesday, at least seven people died and many others hospitalised in a suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar’s Saran district. This year, nine hooch incidents have been reported, leading to the death of nearly 50 persons in Saran alone, according to the police.
The incident led to an uproar in the legislative assembly with the opposition BJP terming it a “complete failure of the liquor prohibition by the government”.
Leader of the opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha raising the issue in the assembly said, “The death of nearly a dozen people in the hooch tragedy in Saran is nothing but sheer carnage under the government patronage.”
“The state government reduced the prohibition to a source of amassing illegal income and led to fast deteriorating law and order situation, with murders, loot and firing becoming the order of the day,” he alleged.
Sinha further said that the opposition is discharging its duty by raising the pertinent issues, but the way the chief minister angrily reacted was totally unwarranted and undignified. “He must apologise to the House because he has not just demeaned the opposition but the entire House,” said Sinha.
Expressing his sadness over the deaths in Saran, parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that the chief minister did not say anything undignified for which he should apologise.
“The fact that deaths have been caused due to the consumption of liquor underlines the relevance of prohibition. It was implemented in the state following a unanimous resolution of the House, which the BJP also supported,” Choudhary said.
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Responding to the allegations, he further said that as far as smuggling is concerned, the government has directed the police to focus on the suppliers and many of them have been apprehended from Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana etc.
The government is making efforts not to harass the poor in any way but zero in on the suppliers, he said adding, “The opposition says liquor is available everywhere. If it is so, it should bring it to the notice of the government for prompt action. The government wants that people should not drink to avoid hooch tragedies,” he added.
However, the unconvinced BJP kept shouting slogans against the chief minister and demanded his resignation.
CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also arrived in the House in the midst of the protest. While Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary continued with the legislative business despite the din, the BJP staged a walkout. Meanwhile, in the assembly, three bills including the Bihar special court (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Bihar Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Bihar GST (amendment) Bill, 2022 were passed by voice vote.
Further attacking Nitish-led government, Sinha said, “The intentions of the government are not clean. It fielded a candidate who is into liquor business from Kurhani seat, which went to by-polls recently. The liquor business is thriving under the patronage of the current government.”
He said over 14 hooch tragedies were reported in the last few months in the state and despite poor falling prey, the government was unmoved and unprepared to set its system into order, while the CM was “losing mental balance”.
