PATNA: The BJP on Friday staged a march to Raj Bhawan demanding dismissal of the grand alliance government in Bihar over the deaths of at least 34 people in the recent hooch tragedy in Saran district. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made it clear that the government would not extend compensation to the victims’ families.
The National Human Rights Commission also took suo motu cognisance of the media reports about the incident, and issued notices to the state chief secretary, Amir Subhani, and DGP, SK Singhal, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks. Meanwhile, the district administration said that 34 people died in the hooch tragedy in the last three days.
Unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at more than 60. The BJP also called it a case of murder for which Nitish should be held responsible, a demand that was corroborated by LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan. Bihar Assembly too witnessed uproarious scenes over the issue, with the leader of Opposition, Vijay Kumar Sinha, demanding compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each victim.
Nitish, however, said, “We have no sympathy for those who died after consuming spurious liquor. Question of giving compensation to such families does not arise.” He added: “We have been appealing to people not to consume liquor as they will die by doing so.” BJP legislators then urged Governor Phagu Chauhan to intervene in the matter.
Talking to the media later, Sinha asked the state government to enact a law to provide compensation to family members of those who died after consuming spurious liquor. He said that a team of 30 BJP MLAs had visited the villages where deaths were reported due to the hooch tragedy, and alleged that dead bodies were forcefully cremated as the government wanted to conceal the actual number of fatalities. More than 100 people have died in the incident so far, he claimed.
“Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav had called Nitish liquor mafia in 2021 and now he is changing colour like a chameleon,” Sinha said. “Formation of an SIT to probe into the tragedy is just an eyewash. A high court judge should conduct the inquiry,” he added.
Nitish Kumar plans to go on a feedback yatra
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will soon embark on a yatra to get feedback from people about grand alliance government’s performance and exiting prohibition policy, which came under sharp criticism after the death of over 30 persons. “The date and other related things are being finalised,” Principal secretary to CM S. Siddharth said.