Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Thursday slammed the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators for disrupting the House proceedings in the ongoing winter session over the hooch deaths.
Calling it a ‘big drama’ by the BJP, he asserted, compared to Bihar, the BJP-ruled states had high incidences of deaths from the consumption of spurious liquor in the last few years.
Yadav, while talking to media persons in the state assembly campus after the pre-lunch state assembly session, said the BJP members were only indulging in dramatics by disrupting the question hour session when they had all the opportunity to ask questions from the government on real issues concerning the people.
The deputy CM maintained that the BJP, now in opposition, was making a hue and cry over the Chapra hooch deaths, alleging that when BJP was in power in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, there were no such protests over suspected hooch deaths in the state in past years.
He claimed the BJP preferred to keep mum when they were many deaths from suspected consumption of illicit liquor in Gopalganj a year back.
“The opposition BJP should explain whether there have been hooch deaths in the past or not. Where were they four months back when people died after consuming spurious liquor in Gopalganj?” Yadav asked.
Also Read:Bihar assembly transacts routine business, passes bills amid uproar by BJP
Yadav further said the BJP members only believe in spreading misinformation and “do not get” facts checked.
Referring to the statement given by minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai in Parliament on July 19, according to which, states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and even Gujarat witnessed high incidences of hooch deaths between 2016 to 2020 as compared to Bihar, Yadav said BJP-ruled states witnessed high incidences of hooch deaths than Bihar in the past many years.
“Rai made the statement in response to a query from MP Danish Ali who sought to know the number of deaths caused by the consumption of spurious liquor and quoted NCRB data,” said Tejashwi, according to which, between 2016 and 2020, Madhya Pradesh accounted for the highest number of 1,214 hooch deaths followed by Karnataka where the number was 909. Both states are ruled by the BJP.
Tejashwi alleged that Haryana– another BJP-ruled state, stood at number four as per Rai’s data, while Gujarat, also a dry state and home of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the number of hooch deaths during the period was 50 and for Bihar it was only 21 from 2016-2020.
Responding to the BJP’s demand for chief minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader said, “BJP leaders are demanding the resignation of CM over the Chapra hooch incident. So, will the BJP demand the resignation of chief ministers of the states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh where their party is in power?”
Yadav also tried to defend Nitish’s “jo peega, woh marega”, stating that the assertion by the chief minister implied that a wrong deed has unwarranted consequences.
The hooch tragedy in three villages in Bihar’s Saran district has claimed the lives of at least 31 people. It has led to a political slugfest between the Bihar government and the BJP-led opposition in ‘dry state’ Bihar.
The sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April 2016.
