A day after Bihar's state chief, Nitish Kumar, nailed his colours to the mast by instituting a complete ban on alcohol in the Indian state, several empty bottles of liquor were found inside the premises of the Bihar assembly on Tuesday.
Lawmakers from opposition parties, especially Tejaswi Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), are now demanding Kumar's resignation.
"It is a serious matter, liquor bottles are being found across the state. There should be a complete ban on liquor," Yadav said according to India Today.
Yadav also took to Twitter to share a video of the empty liquor bottles found in the assembly premises.
"Liquor bottles have been found inside the Bihar Assembly premises. Right now, the winter session is underway and the state chief's office is just a few metres from where different brands of liquor bottles have been found. If this is happening [in the assembly], you can imagine what is happening in the state. Shameful," Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
On Monday, legislators of all four constituents of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar favoured Nitish Kumar’s decision to ban liquor. They also announced their support for the state government’s move to implement a complete prohibition against liquor across the state.
After the bottles were found in the assembly chamber, Kumar said he would ask for the matter to be investigated if the state assembly speaker allows it.
"It is a very serious matter. It is important to conduct an investigation. We can ask the chief secretary and DGP to investigate the matter if the speaker allows," Kumar said.
During the opening day of the ongoing state assembly session, the opposition parties attacked the state government for not doing enough to control the menace of "liquor mafias" in Bihar.
"Nitish Kumar's police are just arresting liquor consumers while the liquor mafias - who are the real culprits - are roaming scot-free. Only poor villagers are either dying or getting arrested," Yadav said.
According to media reports, Nitish Kumar's alcohol policy has been severely criticised by state opposition parties in recent months because of the rise in deaths caused by poisonous liquor.