Vikassheel Insaan Party backs Nitish Kumar's leadership amid widening rift between JDU, BJP

Reacting to the widening rift between Bihar's ruling alliance partners JDU and BJP following the deaths in the Nalanda hooch tragedy, Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that if BJP has a problem, they can walk out of the alliance.

Patna (Bihar): Reacting to the widening rift between Bihar's ruling alliance partners JDU and BJP following the deaths in the Nalanda hooch tragedy, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that if BJP has a problem, they can walk out of the alliance. "CM Nitish Kumar is running Bihar government successfully and I'm with him. If they (BJP) have any problem, they can walk out," VIP chief and animal husbandry-cum-fishery resources department minister Mukesh Sahani told media persons on Wednesday.

He further said that he is a "follower" of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and party leader Tejashwi Yadav is like his "younger brother." "I'm a follower of Lalu Ji and Tejashwi Yadav is like my younger brother. We would do politics together the day we come to a consensus," Sahani said.

Following the death of 11 persons in the Nalanda district due to consumption of spurious alcohol, the BJP has demanded an immediate review of the liquor ban in the state.

READ:JDU MP Sunil Kumar Pintu says JDU-BJP alliance to remain in Bihar, rules out allying with RJD, Congress

State President (SC Morcha) of BJP Bihar Ajit Choudhary recently slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the prohibition law in the state and called him an autocratic leader. "If you want your allies along with you to run the government, then listen to them too.

We asked him to review the prohibition law. Is that a wrong question to ask? He has double standards and it won't work," he said. "How many poor people can afford liquor? Nitish Kumar has become completely autocratic, who has got power for 16 years," he said.

He said that the prohibition law has failed to deliver desired results, and worse still has led to bootlegging. Since 2016, alcohol has been banned in Bihar and any violation of the law warrants punishment.

(ANI)