Told CM prohibition a failure, must be reviewed: PK

Election strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Thursday claimed to have told Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar that the state’s much-touted liquor prohibition drive has been a “complete failure” and in need of a “review”.

Kishor, who is in Champaran for preparations of his 3,500-km “padyatra” covering the entire state, also said he met Kumar out of “courtesy”.

“I am amused to read reports that I met the CM, secretly, in the thick of night. Our meeting took place on Tuesday, around 4.30 pm. Our common friend Pavan Varma had arranged the meeting,” he said, a day after Kumar acknowledged having met him.

Kishor, who was an advisor to the chief minister when the latter imposed prohibition in April 2016, said it is his view, shared by many experts, that agencies responsible for investigation and prosecution are now busy enforcing the liquor ban, which has taken a toll on law and order.

“Prohibition has been a complete failure, existing only on paper because of rampant corruption. Women, in whose name the drastic measure was taken, are the worst sufferers as they have to do the leg work when their menfolk end up behind bars for flouting the law,” said Kishor, who served as JD(U) vice-president before being expelled in 2020.

“I told this to the CM as well, while sharing my experiences of the last few months that I have spent touring Bihar. I said the measure must be reviewed (‘punarvichaar’) without being treated as a matter of ‘aham’ (ego),” Kishor said.

Kishor also clarified that he is committed to his outreach programme, Jan Suraj Abhiyan and said his meeting with Kumar “should be viewed as a social-political courtesy call”.

Referring to Begusarai shooting, he said incidents like these amplify people’s existing apprehensions about the state’s poor condition of law and order.

“But, this has not happened overnight. Law and order was deteriorating even when the BJP was in power, though they may be finding it convenient to raise the matter only now,” Kishor said.

Maintaining that the political realignment in Bihar was “state-specific with no national ramifications”, he also said that the seven-party Mahagathbandhan needed to deliver on promises like 10 lakh government jobs to catch public imagination.