Patna, Oct 24 (PTI) Bihar’s main opposition party RJD and the ruling JD(U) indulged in name-calling on Thursday, seeking to put each other on the mat over poorly implemented prohibition law, which had come into force when the two parties were sharing power.
The spat came close on the heels of a hooch tragedy that claimed nearly 40 lives last week across three districts, flying in the face of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s strong pitch for “sharaab-bandi” (ban on liquor).
RJD spokesman Shakti Yadav came out with a video statement, squarely blaming the chief minister’s party for the illicit liquor trade continuing unabated despite prohibition.
“It seems JD(U) stands for ‘jahaan daaru hai unlimited’ (where the supply of alcohol is without linits)…How else can one explain availability of illicit liquor on such a large scale?”, asked the RJD leader.
Notably, sale and consumption of liquor was completely banned in Bihar in April, 2016, in keeping with an electoral promise the chief minister had made to the state’s women ahead of assembly polls held in the year before.
Although RJD president Lalu Prasad has of late been claiming that he had warned Nitish Kumar against taking such a drastic step, JD(U) leaders allege it was an afterthought on part of the ex-CM, pointing out that the two arch-rivals had stood together, clutching hands at a human chain organised in favour of the liquor ban.
Moreover, Prasad’s son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav was the deputy CM and his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav was a cabinet minister when the government brought in the prohibition law.
Meanwhile, hearing the RJD’s latest jibe, JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar sought to pay the rival back in the same coin.
“If you attempt ‘naamkaran’ (name calling) then, beware, it may boomerang”, the JD(U) leader said in a video statement, claiming that the “RJD can be called ‘rashtriya jahreela dal’ (national poisonous party)”.
“The name would be apt for a party that has been spewing venom in the name of caste and religion and is considered synonymous with crime and corruption,” he added. PTI NAC BDC
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