Bihar CM to tour other states to back prohibition

In a bid to spread his following outside Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar will soon tour across the country to lend his support to prohibition. The JD(U) has claimed that Mr Kumar has received a number of representations from women organisations to support the cause of prohibition in other states as well.

Bihar has clamped total prohibition in the state. JD(U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi has said that Mr Kumar has accepted invitations of women organisations to espouse the cause of total prohibition in other states. The Bihar chief minister is known to enjoy a strong support base among the women in his state, which apparently paid him rich dividends in last year’s state elections.

“The Bihar chief minister has agreed to visit other states and hold interaction with women organisations, which will be finalised after the national council meeting of the JD(U) in Patna on April 23, where Mr Kumar’s election as party president is to be approved. Women organisations, many of whom are associated with Gandhian and Sarvoday movements, have invited Mr Kumar. The invitations are from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Wardha in Maharashtra, Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand and some places from Uttar Pradesh,” Mr Tyagi said, adding that the Bihar CM will visit these states next month.

The Bihar chief minister, by taking steps like total prohibition and giving 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayat polls, reserving 35 per cent seats for women in government jobs and initiating several pro-women schemes like Mukhyamantri Nari Shakti Yojana, Akshar Anchal Yojana, Jeevika and Mukhya Mantri Kanya Suraksha Yojana, is known to have cultivated a strong political constituency among women.