Ahead of polls, Chhattisgarh Congress recalls 2018 pledge, to study Bihar booze ban

RAIPUR: A delegation of Chhattisgarh Congress legislators is on a visit to Bihar to study its experience with prohibition and examine the possibility of implementing a liquor ban in Chhattisgarh in keeping with its 2018 poll manifesto.

Elections are due in the state in November this year, and it’s only now that the government has started working on its prohibition promise though it has repeatedly said it is committed to a ban on liquor.

The seven-member delegation, led by seven-time MLA Satyanarayan Sharma, met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and discussed prohibition policy and implementation in that state. Congress MLAs arrived in Patna on March 8 and will return on Sunday. They are studying the “consequences and ifs and buts of prohibition in Chhattisgarh”, said a party leader.

The team will visit Mizoram as well in a few days and prepare a report for the Bhupesh Baghel government to take a decision on liquor ban in Chhattisgarh. Askedabout this, excise minister Kawasi Lakhma told reporters that “liquor is a social evil and we vow to prevent it”.

“ Bastar tribals offer liquor to gods and goddesses there and consumption of alcohol is part of tradition. There will be different rules in Bastar. Since the Fifth Schedule is in force there, the panchayat will decide on the liquor ban,” Lakhma said.