Complete liquor ban in Bihar due to our pressure: BJP

Patna, April 5 (IANS) The Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday welcomed the state government's move to declare Bihar a dry state but said the party had forced the Nitish Kumar government to bow to its pressure.

"We welcome the Bihar government's decision to ban all kinds of liquor in the state. The BJP had been regularly demanding a complete ban on all kinds of liquor in the state, which the Bihar government had earlier announced only on country made liquor," BJP state president Mangal Pandey told IANS.

"The BJP along with allies had been pressurising the government in the legislative assembly to force it to announce a complete ban on liquor sale, and today the government has bowed to ours' and the people's pressure," Pandey added.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi took to Twitter and wrote: "BJP and media compelled Nitish Kumar to declare total prohibition. BJP supports this decision of the government."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday announced a complete ban on all kinds of liquor in the state, making it the fourth dry state in the country after Gujarat, Manipur and Nagaland.