New Delhi: Days after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that new liquor shops will be opened in the state, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti has asked party president J.P. Nadda to impose an alcohol ban in states where the party is in power.
In a series of posts on Twitter Thursday, Bharti appealed to Nadda.
“I am making a public appeal to our party president JP Nadda through this tweet that wherever we have a BJP government, we should prepare for a complete prohibition in those states,” she posted in Hindi.
5. मैं तो अपने राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष श्री @JPNadda जी से इस ट्वीट के माध्यम से सार्वजनिक अपील करती हूं कि जहां भी भाजपा की सरकारें हैं उन राज्यों में पूर्ण शराबबंदी की तैयारी करिए। @BJP4India
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
The former MP chief minister as well as Union minister also welcomed the delay by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in granting permission to these new shops.
“Government has not yet decided about increasing the number of liquor shops in Madhya Pradesh. This statement of Shivraj Singh Chouhan is a welcome step.”
1. मध्यप्रदेश में शराब की दुकानों की संख्या बढ़ाने के बारे में सरकार ने अभी कोई निर्णय नहीं लिया है @ChouhanShivraj जी का यह वक्तव्य अभिनंदनीय है।
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
She then went on to highlight the positives of prohibition.
“At the time of the lockdown due to coronavirus, there was almost a state of prohibition, it is clear from the fact that people died from other causes and corona but no one died due to drinking alcohol,” she argued.
2. कोरोनाकाल के लॉकडाउन के समय पर लगभग शराबबंदी की स्थिति रही इससे यह तथ्य स्पष्ट हो गया है कि अन्य कारणों एवं कोरोना से लोगों की मृत्यु हुई किंतु शराब नहीं पीने से कोई नहीं मरा।
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
Further, she highlighted the recent cases of people dying in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh due to drinking spurious liquor.
“Recently in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, a large number of people died due to drinking alcohol. Most of the road accidents are caused by the driver’s drinking. It is surprising that liquor is the messenger of death, yet greed and pressure from the liquor mafia does not allow for prohibition.”
3.अभी हाल में उ0प्र0 एवं म0प्र0 में शराब पीने से बड़ी संख्या में लोगों की मृत्यु हुई सड़क दुर्घटनाओं के अधिकतर कारण तो ड्राइवर का शराब पीना ही होता है यहबड़े आश्चर्य की बात हैकि शराब मृत्यु का दूत है फिरभी थोड़े से राजस्व का लालच एवं शराब माफिया का दबाव शराबबंदी नहीं होने देता है
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
Bharti also cited the pressure political parties were under to win elections. “The victory of BJP in Bihar proves that due to prohibition, women gave unilateral votes to Nitish Kumar,” she said.
6. राजनीतिक दलों को चुनाव जीतने का दबाव रहता है बिहार की भाजपा की जीत यह साबित करती है कि शराबबंदी के कारण ही महिलाओं ने एकतरफा वोट नीतीश कुमार जी को दिये।@BJP4Bihar
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
“Prohibition is not a loss deal anywhere; the loss of revenue from liquor can be met from anywhere, but incidents of alcohol intoxication, murders, accidents, rape of young girls are frightening and a taint for the country and the society,” she said.
7. शराबबंदी कहीं से भी घाटे का सौदा नहीं है शराब बंदी से राजस्व को हुई क्षति को कहीं से भी पूरा किया जा सकता है किंतु शराब के नशे में बलात्कार, हत्याएं, दुर्घटनाएं छोटी बालिकाओं के साथ दुष्कर्म जैसी घटनाएं भयावह हैं तथा देश एवं समाज के लिए कलंक है।
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 21, 2021
Bharti’s comments come at a time the Congress in Madhya Pradesh has been targeting the BJP and Mishra’s comments over the move. Former chief minister Kamal Nath alleged that the BJP government was converting the state into a “land of liquor”.
Also read: After 40 days of lockdown, Indians just wanted alcohol not ‘Gujarat Model’