Follow Nitish Kumar, bring dry law: TN Oppn tells Jayalalithaa

Chennai, Nov 27: The Opposition today hit out at Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for not banning liquor in Tamil Nadu despite demands as they asked her to follow in the footsteps of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whom they praised for deciding to implement prohibition in his state.

DMK treasurer M K Stalin hailed Nitish's decision as "historic, bold and humanitarian" that would show the way to the nation. "It is a pioneering decision taken by giving importance to people's welfare," he said in a statement.

"I urge Jayalalithaa to follow Nitish," he said, adding her government should give up "shallow arguments" against bringing prohibition.

He said Nitish had taken this decision by understanding the people's needs though Opposition did not demand it and there were no protests seeking it like Tamil Nadu.

Reasons cited by the Bihar Chief Minister for the decision like the poor getting affected fully applied to Tamil Nadu. However, Jayalalithaa regime was "only concerned about their own interests," the DMK leader alleged.

Though there were protests and demands from political parties and other outfits seeking prohibition, the "AIADMK regime does not respect people's feelings and is behaving in an authoritarian fashion."

He said prohibition would be implemented if DMK was voted to power in Assembly election next year.

"Liquor (consumption) is ruining the society, Tamil Nadu should immediately take steps to bring in prohibition," CPI(M) State Secretary G Ramakrishnan told PTI.

He said barring the ruling party, the rest of the state including all political parties, civic society and welfare outfits demanded prohibition. Welcoming the decision, CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan said, "we urge that Tamil Nadu should come forward to implement prohibition following Bihar."

PMK chief Ramadoss sarcastically said, "just in case if Jayalalithaa has some concern for the people, she should immediately implement prohibition." Else, PMK would do it if it was voted to power, he said.

Praising Nitish as a "living example of how a Chief Minister should love people and how his vision should be," the PMK chief too echoed Stalin when he said that the Bihar Chief Minister chose to do it in deference to his electoral promise though there were no strong demands seeking prohibition.

All the parties hailed Nitish for promptly honouring his electoral promise and emphasised on the adverse impact of alcohol use over the youth in Tamil Nadu.

PTI