Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): Senior BJP leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti said here on Friday she never talked of complete liquor prohibition in the state.
She was talking to media persons at her residence here. Uma Bharti who has been demanding prohibition in Madhya Pradesh for several months now and confronted the government on this said she never said there should be complete prohibition in Madhya Pradesh.
“When I didn’t talk of complete prohibition when I was CM, how could I talk of the same now,” she said. “I am opposed to Ahata culture. I want regulation in sale of liquor in such a way that people buy the liquor from a shop and go back home to drink it over there. I am sure this would minimize the liquor consumption in society considerably,” she added.
Attacking the Ahata culture she said it was ironical that on one hand the government had penalized drunken driving but on the other hand it allowed drinking in ahatas. “Do those having liquor in ahatas go home in helicopters?” she asked.
However, she said, she was happy that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also in favour of regulated sale of liquor and he started working in the direction. Hence, she had decided to cancel the October 2 convention of women. Rather, she added, a maximum 500 women would gather in the state capital and would march from Kali Mandir to Lily Talkies square.
Uma Bharti, who had decided not to contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls, parried the question when asked if she was willing to contest the next LS or state Assembly election and whether she would like to contest from Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh. She said she had already answered the question earlier and she would not like to repeat it.
In reply to a question she said there was huge caste and regional imbalance in the state cabinet and the administration which might lead to a major problem for the government some day. For instance, she said, Vindhya region didn’t get adequate representation in the State cabinet whereas a particular region had a good number of ministers.
