leader demands all-party meet on

prohibition law
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Slamming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not paying heed to the Oppositions
suggestions for amendments to the draconian provisions of the States prohibition law,
senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday demanded an immediate all-party
meeting to build a consensus on the issue.
The BJP has been in favour of the prohibition law right from the beginning, but it had
opposed some draconian and Talibani provisions in it...Now that the State government is
facing flak from the people and staring at the prospect of quashing of the liqour law by the
Supreme Court, it has mooted amendment to the law, he said.
Provisions like imprisonment of all the adult members of the family if liquor bottles are
found in a household, collective fine and seizure of properties are some of the draconian
provisions the BJP has been opposing.
Government opening up
Now that the State government was opening up to the idea of withdrawing some
draconian and Talibani provisions in the liquor law, it should immediately convene an allparty meeting to discuss the issue and seek a consensus on it, Mr. Modi said.
He described the Chief Ministers statement that he was open to suggestions on amendments
to the prohibition law as a victory of the Opposition.
Prohibition, he claimed, had failed in Bihar, despite stringent provisions, in the backdrop of
the seizure of three lakh litre of liquor and arrest of 18,000 people.
The drama
The BJP leader also questioned the State government for advertisements in newspapers
soliciting suggestions for amendments to the liquor law. He termed it drama and asked
whether the hundreds of suggestions received so far in this regard were not enough.
The Bihar government enforced total prohibition in the State from April 5 and enacted the
Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, during the Monsoon Session of the Assembly to lend
more teeth to the enforcement of the ban, which came under sharp attack from the people and