Prohibition, caste & land survey fire up Opposition ammo against NDA in Bihar

Prohibition, caste, and land survey, which the Bihar government takes pride in showcasing as big social initiatives, seem to be emerging as the main ammunition for the Opposition parties to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections later this year.

- Arun Kumar

PATNA:

While the statement of RJD spearhead Tejashwi Prasad Yadav that, if voted to power, his government would not only legalise toddy by bringing it out of the prohibition law but also withdraw thousands of cases against toddy brewers and sellers, has evoked sharp reaction from NDA. Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has announced to undertake a Yatra from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's native village, Kalyanbigha in Nalanda, to launch a signature campaign to verify whether the 2 lakh promised to 94 poor families identified in the caste survey has actually been delivered.

Tejashwi's announcement to legalise toddy is significant, as it has found favours with the NDA constituents like LPJ-R president Chirag Paswan and HAM-S patron Jitan Ram Manjhi, both of whom are ministers in the Narendra Modi cabinet and have been speaking for a larger share in the seat sharing formula. In the past, Manjhi had advocated that toddy, which he called 'natural justice', be brought out of the prohibition purview.