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This is an archive article published on December 16, 2022
Bihar hooch tragedy: After seeking CM apology, BJP keeps up heat with team visiting Ground Zero
On Thursday, the BJP kept up the heat on the government by disrupting House proceeding with its demand for the CM’s apology for not keeping decorum of Parliamentary behaviour with the Leader of Opposition.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar arrives at the Assembly amid a protest by Opposition legislators on Thursday. (PTI)
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Bihar hooch tragedy: After seeking CM apology, BJP keeps up heat with team visiting Ground Zero
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A day after leaving Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar enraged in the Assembly by demanding his apology to families of Saran hooch victims — and in return being told, “chup raho (keep quiet)” — Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar on Thursday led a 30-member BJP delegation to Masrakh, where most of the hooch-related deaths were reported from. Sinha has been leading BJP’s offensive against the “failure of prohibition” in and outside the Assembly.
On Thursday, the BJP kept up the heat on the government by disrupting House proceeding with its demand for the CM’s apology for not keeping decorum of Parliamentary behaviour with the Leader of Opposition. In turn, Nitish told reporters outside the Assembly, “Aren’t there cases of hooch tragedies in BJP-ruled states? Didn’t hooch deaths take place in Bihar before prohibition?”
A victim of Saran hooch tragedy being treated in Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), in Patna. (PTI)
Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav asked: “Didn’t hooch tragedies take place when BJP was part of the government with Nitish Kumar? Several hooch cases were reported in the last one year. Where were they (BJP) then?”
Tejashwi was referring to 20 or so hooch incidents reported over the last one year from East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Nalanda, Saran, and Nawada districts. In most cases, it was consumption of spurious country liquor that led to deaths.
Phulmati Devi grieves the death of her two sons at Bahrauli village of Saran on Thursday. (Express photo by Santosh Singh)
Asked why BJP did not lead any such delegation to sites of hooch deaths in the past, BJP spokesperson and national general secretary its OBC Morcha, Nikhil Anand, said: “As an ally, we could not have attacked the government directly. But we were never comfortable with the manner prohibition was being implemented. Our state unit president, Sanjay Jaiswal, had often asked for its (prohibition policy’s) revision, especially finding ways to check inter-state liquor smuggling.”
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