PATNA: Rejecting the demand for review of Bihar prohibition law in the wake of death of at least 32 persons in a series of recent hooch tragedies, ruling JD(U)’s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh on Saturday said a complete ban on liquor is already enforced in Bihar and it would continue to remain in future.
Responding to a media query over the occurrence of a series of hooch tragedies despite enforcement of total prohibition, Singh said, “Already, there is law against murder, and provision of capital punishment for the crime of murder. But still people commit murder. When they get caught, they get the capital punishment….. Law is law, if people violate the prohibition law, they will get punishment as per its provisions.”
Referring to a previous incident of hooch tragedy in Gopalganj district in which the involved persons were awarded jail terms by the district court, Lalan said, “So many people were awarded punishments in the Gopalganj spurious liquor case. It is an example. Investigation is being done in the recent case of hooch deaths.”
Lalan was talking to media persons at the JD(U)’s state headquarters here after attending a party’ ‘Milan Samaroh’ organized to induct RJD leader Dharmendra Kumar and his supporters into the JD(U).
Dharmanedra, who had contested 2020 assembly polls as RJD candidate from Kumhrar (Patna central) seat and turned out as the runner-up by securing more than 54,900 votes (BJP’s Arun Kumar Sinha won the election), took the membership of JD(U) on Saturday in the presence of several senior JD(U) leaders. Lalan offered the JD(U)’s membership receipt to Dharmendra who joined the new organization along with his hundreds of supporters.
While addressing the ‘Milan Samaroh’ and welcoming Dharmendra and his supporters in the JD(U), Lalan Singh made a frontal attack on the RJD and its president Lalu Prasad, saying, “The RJD is not a political party, but a private limited company or the party of a single family.”
Lalan also said, “In the RJD, any MP or MLA cannot meet the party’s top leaders at any time. The MPs and MLAs do not get permission to meet the top RJD leaders despite waiting for several hours.”
The JD(U) chief also alleged that the family of Lalu-Rabri arrived in Bihar only during the elections and they flew to Delhi soon after the elections. “They (Lalu family) are not bothered either for their party or the people of Bihar,” he said. JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha presided over the ‘Milan Samaroh’ function.
Lalan further assured Dharmendra that he would get complete ‘maan-samman’ (respect) in the JD(U) and he would have full liberty to perform in the new organization.
