RJD shames Nitish govt over liquor ban with video of drunk party leader; JDU takes action

Amid rising Covid-19 cases across India, former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD in Bihar has rekindled its attack on CM Nitish Kumar over his liquor ban. On April 11, RJD took to Twitter to post a video of Yuva JDU state vice president Vishal Gaurav, claiming that Nitish Kumar's party members are violating their own rule. As the video went viral leaving the party red-faced, reports came in that an embarrassed JDU removed Gaurav from the party post.

Sharing the video, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had urged CM Nitish Kumar to arrest the leader, as his party claimed that JDU is 'sanitising itself with liquor on the tunes of Naagin Dance'. JDU took action against the leader, as reports suggest even as Gaurav claimed that he is being framed. In his defence, the Yuva JDU state vice president said that it is an old video from October 2019 from a hotel room in Nepal. He also added speaking to a newspaper that it was before he was elevated to the position of party's VP.

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The Bihar government under Nitish Kumar banned liquor sale and consumption in April 2016. A liquor ban politics of sorts has ensued since then in the state with the Mahagathbandhan including RJD and others promising to revoke the ban once they come to power, while Nitish Kumar continues to claim the step as a success.

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Coronavirus cases in Bihar

Bihar Health Department on Sunday said a 16-year-old girl, a 40-year-old man and a 63-year-old man in Begusarai test positive for COVID19, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 64. While 17 have recovered, one patient has died. The recovered patients include six from Munger and five from Patna, leaving the two districts with zero active cases as of now. All cases from Munger were traced to the sole deceased patient of the state who passed away on March 21, suffering from renal failure, a day before test results showed he was also COVID-19 positive. Three hospitals in the state, one each at Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya, have been dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.

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