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In an outreach to lower class voters, Nitish re-imposes prohibition
Lucknow: In a bid to enlarge his footprint and create a new constituency which can fulfil his Delhi dream , Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, re-imposed prohibition last Sunday and issued a new notification in this regard . in the new notification issued in view of the Court's order most of the draconian provisions have been either retained or changed marginally.
It reinforces the belief that courts' verdict are honoured by politicians only when it suits them, contrary to the claim they often make.This has happened in this case and has been happening since the Shahbano case.
Prohibition was introduced in Bihar in April last, soon after he took over as chief minister. It had and has certain provisions which no other state has . The list includes Mahatama Gandhi's state of Gujarat where it was imposed much earlier and Kerala and Tamil Nadu where it was enforced recently.
For instance, the Bihar act has a provision that all adults members of the house, and not only the owner, will be arrested if a liquor bottle is found in the house. In other words, even if some members who were not directly or indirectly involved will have to face jail term or fine or both.
And the punishment for prohibition- related offences can be as long as ten -years' jail and fine ranging from Rs one to ten lakhs. There is also a provision for collective fine on the group or villages where the " crime" of trade or consumption of liquor is committed. It was one of the four provisions which the high court had found whimsical. It is not easy to understand why he has retained it with no major change.
Even Gujarat where prohibition is in practice since long does not have provisions like these. Nor does it match with Bihar in cases of quantum of punishment and amount of fine imposed. Other states including Kerala and Tamil Nadu which have recently joined the anti-liquor lobby do not have these provisions or introduced partial prohibition allowing sale of foreign liquor.
Gujarat provisions, in contrast, should be an eye-opener for every one concerned . One or two provisions will make the position bare. For instance, an offender there cane be jailed for a maximum period of two years and pay a maximum fine of Rs two thousand. For the first offence the punishment is fifty per cent less. The state provides permits for buying liquor on six grounds including health. Clearly, the state has been more sensible and considerate in framing the laws.
In Bihar act, there is a death penalty if a person dies after consuming liquor , foreign or country-made . He will face life-sentence in case of serious health problem. No such provision has been made in other states including Gujarat. All the states which have gone for prohibition has taken refuse in article 47 of the constitution which calls for action to protect the health of the people of the country.
Now the question is why has Nitish gone for this draconian law. Answer is very simple. He wanted to create a vote-bank in Bihar and outside to achieve his goal of unseating the BJP and Narendra Modi, present Prime Minister. Lower middle class women have much against drinks and can overwhelmingly vote in his favour. He has tested blood as they had largely favoured him in the recent assembly election in the state and contributed to his return to power.
So, he has tended to ignore gentlemen drinkers" who want to quietly spent an evening either alone or with his like-minded friends.
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His formula. however, may not work outside Bihar because in most of other states , social and economic conditions are different. Perhaps he likes to put himself in a different light.
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