BJP leader Uma Bharti on Tuesday demanded that the party’s government in Madhya Pradesh ban all `Ahaatas’ or open places near liquor shops where liquor is consumed by a single order.
The former chief minister, who has been agitating for stricter restrictions on liquor distribution in the state, also visited an
Ahaata is situated next to a school in the Karond area here after visiting a Hanuman temple.
In a series of tweets in Hindi afterward, Bharti said, “Yesterday I have said that the liquor mafia will attack me and defame me by spreading lies…”
“While I was talking to the public, someone asked if I am giving an opportunity to the opposition to weaken the government, but my straightforward reply is that Ahaatas are illegal,” Bharti said.
“If by a single order all such facilities in the state get closed then… the opposition won’t get any opportunity,” she said.
But she won’t sit quietly only because raising her voice will give an opportunity to the opposition to attack the state government, she added.
If the government issued an order closing Ahaatas, she will walk to the Mantralaya (state government headquarters) from her residence with a `Diya’ (earthen lamp) in her hand to praise the government, the senior BJP leader added.
To raise awareness against liquor consumption, Bharti had earlier announced that she will not stay in any house from November 7 to January 14.
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She will instead stay in a hut or tent in front of a liquor shop or ahaata and organize public meetings, she had said.
(Inputs from PTI)