Nitish Kumar Bihar govt may face tough time over revisions to Bihar’s liquor law

#Patna : The Nitish Kumar led Bihar  government is likely to face a tough time over the passage of the new excise bill, to be tabled in the ongoing monsoon session of assembly, with the opposition calling its proposals “draconian” and allies of the ruling party divided over it.

Besieged by criticism from the opposition over the government’s bid to bring several amendments to tighten the prohibition law, three senior ministers of the Grand Alliance (GA) met National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders on Sunday and sought their support for the passage of the Bihar Excise and Prohibition Bill 2016 in the assembly.

Among other provisions, the proposed bill seeks to punish all adults in a family for liquor consumption by an individual family member, or if liquor were recovered from one’s house. The bill also puts toddy in the category of country liquor and makes tapping of toddy as serious an office as preparation of country liquor.

The amendments to the bill were tabled in the assembly on Friday and will be taken up for discussion on Monday.

A team of parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar, excise minister Abdul Jalil Mastan and art and culture minister Shiv Chandra Ram called on senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and ex-CM and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi.

The BJP leaders, including Sushil  Modi and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Prem Kumar, have already sought amendments to various “’draconian” provisions of the act. The provisions to which they sought amendments include jail term to all adult family members for the fault of an individual and giving “unbridled power” to police and excise officials to “harass the common man” in the name of prohibition.

“We have conveyed chief minister Nitish Kumar’s message and urged them to show unanimity over the new bill to be tabled in the House during the ongoing monsoon session,” CM Nitish  Kumar said, adding that their (NDA leaders) response would be known only on the floor of the house.

Divided Allies
The government’s move to enact the new excise law with harsher provisions has evoked sharp resentment within the GA with some Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress leaders venting their opposition to certain clauses of the bill.

Contrary to the unanimity over the amendment to the prevalent excise act during the last budget session, there are fissures within the ruling alliance on several provisions of the new bill.

Concerns within the GA were apparent at a joint meeting of legislators where RJD and Congress MLAs opposed some stringent provisions in the new law on Friday,