Uma Bharati wages a silent war against alcohol

By Our Special Correspondent

A senior BJP leader has written to Uma Bharati party president JP Nadda, demanding a uniform excise policy for all BJP-ruled states, and has also announced a silent protest outside liquor shops in Madhya Pradesh till October this year, as well as a march in Bhopal. On October 2, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

In a letter dated July 9, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister criticized the current excise policy in the BJP-ruled MP, saying it "leads the state towards destruction by all means". Bharti, who shared the letter on Twitter on Saturday evening, has been seeking a ban in MP for some time. She had earlier stoned a liquor shop in state capital Bhopal and cow dung on a liquor shop in Niwari district. In a statement, the BJP leader said she has held meetings with decision-makers in the party and is confident that such interactions will yield results soon.

From now till October I will stand alone in front of liquor shops and ahatas (liquor facilities adjacent to shops). On Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) I will take a procession along the streets of Bhopal with women.

The former union minister said that liquor ban is a social problem and not a political problem.

"It's not even a personal issue for me, so whoever supports it can do it in a personal capacity," she said.

Bharti also said that the ban was not an ego issue for her, but a social issue related to women and their families, which concerned the future of the youth.

In a letter to Nadda, Bharti demanded that all BJP-ruled states implement a uniform excise policy.