KOCHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said if the Opposition parties stood united in the upcoming Presidential election, it would not be a cakewalk for the BJP.
“We are always opposing the ideology of the BJP and we have our own agenda. We don’t want to react daily to the BJP’s agenda as it will only help them,” he told reporters at the government guest house here.
The JD(U)strongman said a united Opposition was the need of the hour when asked about the possibility of the Opposition fielding a common candidate in the Presidential poll.
There were reports Nitish had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explore the possibility of putting up a common candidate. Nitish also invited Malayalees to visit Bihar to witness firsthand the feasibility of the liquor ban imposed by his government in 2016
. “The liquor ban is indeed feasible and it is a huge success in Bihar,” he said. On how the state government overcame the ensuing loss of revenue, he merely said the government had weathered the crisis.
“The state exchequer got `5,000 crore in taxes from liquor sale in 2015. After the ban, this revenue dried up completely, but we have managed to overcome the crisis,” he said.
Kumar said the government was able to drum up the support of the public for the liquor ban.
“Women and children are happy with the government decision and their quality of life has improved. Those, who were alcoholics, lead a peaceful and happy life now. You can visit any village or town in Bihar and talk to anyone. Then you can draw your own conclusions,” he said.