Nitish may urge Akhilesh for a ‘Bihar-like’ liquor ban in Uttar Pradesh

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is most likely to suggest to his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Akhilesh Yadav to impose a ban on liquor across the state, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) national general secretary Arun Kumar said on Monday.

The Bihar chief minister will make this appeal when he visits Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on May 12.

Nitish Kumar has already banned liquor in his home state, a move that has won him the support of women. The liquor ban in Bihar has made many tipplers cross the border, driving up liquor sales in eastern UP.

Now, keen for his party to make a mark in Uttar Pradesh as part of the grand alliance, the Bihar CM is mulling turning the liquor ban issue into his main poll plank.

Nitish Kumar will launch a ‘campaign’ for expansion of the JD-U in presence of the partymen at a state-level party workers’ meet scheduled at the National Inter College Ground, Pindra, around 30 km from Varanasi. It would be Kumar’s first visit to Varanasi after taking over as the JD-U national president and the Bihar CM for the fifth time last year. He has deliberately chosen Pindra, a Patel dominated assembly constituency represented by Congress MLA Ajai Rai. In doing so, he has tried to achieve multiple goals in one go.

Though situated in Varanasi district, Pindra is not part of Varanasi parliamentary constituency. Rather, it is part of the Machhalisahar parliamentary constituency in Jaunpur.