Bhopal: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh government's likely announcement of a new liquor policy, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Uma Bharti is staying at a temple in the state capital Bhopal demanding the policy be made more stringent. If a "controlled liquor policy" is implemented, the ruling BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003, Bharti told reporters on Saturday after she reached the temple located near a liquor shop at the Ayodhya Nagar trisection.
The BJP leader announced she will stay there till January 31, awaiting the liquor policy announcement. The Assembly elections in MP are due in December this year. Bharti has been demanding appropriate amendments in liquor policy, which the state government releases every year, and incorporating more controls to promote de-addiction.
She had earlier opposed the wine shop located near the temple. The Madhya Pradesh government has not announced any date, but a new liquor policy is generally announced in January-end. The former Union minister said she had expressed a desire to tour various spots in Madhya Pradesh last November, but the visit could not materialise due to a lack of arrangements for her staff including security personnel.
I have never demanded absolute prohibition. I said I would implement a total prohibition if it is in my control. I have full faith in Shivraj ji (MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan). I will wait for the decision about the liquor policy on January 31, she said. The former state chief minister also said she did not want the opposition Congress to benefit from her stand.
If a controlled liquor policy, as I had told (to the BJP government), is implemented, the BJP will repeat its record victory like 2003, she said. The BJP had won 165 seats in the 230-member MP Assembly in the 2003 polls decimating the Congress, which was in power at that time, to 58 seats. After that election, Bharti became the chief minister. She resigned after eight months. (PTI)
