Those questioning prohibition getting support from liquor mafia: NDA

Patna: A day after RJD neta Tejashwi Prasad Yadav lashed out at the state govt alleging its "failure to check liquor smuggling" in the state, the NDA netas hit back and said those questioning the prohibition were getting financial support from the liquor mafias.
JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh aka Lalan Singh refuted Tejashwi's allegations that only poor were being targeted by the police in the name of violating liquor ban in the state since 2016.
"The poor are not being harassed. Those who criticise the liquor ban have nexus with the liquor mafias, who finance them," said Lalan with oblique reference to Tejashwi and his party.
Tejashwi on Saturday alleged that 99% of the arrested for consuming liquor were the poor people belonging to dalit, EBC and backward communities as liquor smugglers had been running a parallel economy worth Rs 40,000 crore annually in the state.
BJP also countered Tejashwi's statement. BJP state spokesperson Prabhakar Kumar Mishra said the RJD leader wanted to benefit his liquor mafia friends by ending liquor ban in Bihar. "When Tejashwi talks about black market of liquor, it seems as if a man is giving a speech on starvation after eating biryani to his heart's content. But liquor ban will continue with strictness in Bihar," he said.
On Tejashwi's charge, JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar alleged that the RJD had taken Rs 46.6 crore donations from the liquor firms in the country. "Was it for helping illegal liquor sale in the state where prohibition has been enforced strictly?" he asked.
Reacting to NDA's counter-attack, RJD on Sunday said the ruling combine in Bihar got scared from Tejashwi's allegations. RJD spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan said JD(U) and BJP used to earn through the liquor promotion policy in the state. He reminded them of the Patna high court's observation on Sept 21, 2012 on "flouting rules in opening liquor shops" in the state.
"When the NDA govt was formed again in 2010, liquor shops were opened in the state indiscriminately. Bihar was the only state in the country where the govt had made a provision of giving 40% subsidy on opening liquor shops on highways and National Highways. Before 2005, when RJD was in power in Bihar, there were only 900 liquor shops in Bihar, while in 2012, during the NDA regime, the number of liquor shops increased to 14,000," Gagan claimed.