"Nitish Kumar Should Resign If...": Union Minister On Bihar Liquor Tragedy

Union Minister Giriraj Singh today slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the liquor tragedy in the state's Chhapra region where the death toll touched 39, and said if Mr Kumar's policies were not being implemented on the ground then the chief minister should resign.

"This incident is the misfortune of Bihar. Since the liquor policy has been implemented in Bihar, several thousand people have died, mostly poor. But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's sympathy is not awakened and when someone raises it in the House, he is treated in a way that no one expects from a CM," Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department Giriraj Singh told ANI.

"If your police is not able to implement your law and policies then you should resign. He (Nitish) is in huge frustration. He is in fear and that is why he has said in the future Tejashwi Yadav will be the leader," he said.

"Do whatever you can but free people from the death caused by liquor," the Minister added.

The death toll in Saran district's Chhapra region due to the consumption of spurious liquor soared to 39 on Thursday.

In the wake of the tragedy, Masrakh Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended with immediate effect on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar.

The Bihar chief minister on Thursday told the media here that the liquor ban has benefitted many, but there are those who are troublemakers.

"A large number of people have given up alcohol...This is good. Several people have happily accepted this. But there are some troublemakers. I have told officers to identify the actual troublemakers and nab them," Nitish Kumar told reporters.

A day after the tragedy unfolded, on Wednesday Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his cool in the state assembly when leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked his government over the rising deaths in the spurious liquor incident in Saran district.

Mr Kumar slammed the BJP for protesting the deaths as Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha questioned the state's liquor ban policy since 2016.

Nitish Kumar lost his temper in the House and screamed at the BJP MLAs ''Sharabi ho gaye ho tum...(you are drunk)"

The sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April 2016.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)