PATNA: Former Bihar chief minister and HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi has asked the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar to spare tipplers taking just a quarter of liquor. Manjhi, who has earlier suggested the people of Bihar to take only two pegs of liquor after 10 PM, had urged the Bihar government not to take any action against those buying or consuming just a quarter of liquor bottle.


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The veteran Bihar politician further said that he is not against liquor prohibition, but the way it is being enforced in the state. He alleged that the government rarely takes any action against the powerful liquor mafia but it arrests only poor people who consume 100-250 grams of liquor. The government should not arrest those poor people, Manjhi said.


The former Bihar Chief Minister also called for a review of the liquor prohibition policy in Bihar. He stated that the breath analyzer test often gives wrong results due to which poor people face humiliation.


Manjhi made these remarks during a meeting of the party's national executive held at the Constitution Club of Delhi. It may be noted that the HAM chief had earlier created a stir by claiming that taking alcohol in moderate quantities has 'medicinal benefits'.


Jitan Ram Manjhi has questioned Nitish Kumar's alcohol ban in Bihar and requested him to rethink the implementation of the prohibition laws.


"Only poor people are being caught and harassed. Those who are involved in the illegal liquor trade racket are not being arrested. I have a difference of opinion with Nitish Ji on this issue. 70 % of the people who are being caught are poor," he said.


The Nitish Kumar government had enforced liquor prohibition in Bihar in April 2016.