The Bihar State Beverage Corporation Limited's move to sell Indian made foreign liquor in a market complex named after Mahatma Gandhi in Motihari Town has not gone down well with the BJP.

The Bihar State Beverage Corporation Limited (BSBCL) has set up three Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) liquor shops at Gandhi Complex adjacent to Gandhi Smarak. Protesting against the decision, a delegation of BJP MLAs from East Champaran led by Motihari Town MLA Pramod Kumar on Friday submitted a memorandum to chief minister Nitish Kumar with a plea to shift the liquor shop from the complex.

The other members who were part of delegation included Rana Randhir, Shyam Babu Prasad Yadav, both MLAs and Rajesh Kumar alias Bablu Gupta (an MLC).

Pramod Kumar told The Telegraph : "Our party demand is complete prohibition as we are not satisfied with partial prohibition as announced by chief minister Nitish Kumar." Pramod who has been representing Motihari Town as MLA for three terms said while on one hand the government announces prohibition, on the other BSBCL opens shops in a market complex named after Bapu.

Pramod said: "Motihari is the karmbhoomi of Gandhi. The first Satyagraha movement inspired by Gandhi took place in Champaran in 1917."

Condemning the government decision, Braj Kishore Singh, a Gandhian in Motihari, said: "Opening liquor shops at places or markets associated with Gandhi's name is a big crime and government should shift the shops to some other place."

Both the state and Union governments have decided to celebrate the centenary year of the Satyagraha in a grand way in 2017. A series of programmes will be held next year at the national as well as state-levels coinciding with the centenary year celebration of Champaran Satyagraha.

However, BSBCL authorities did not find anything wrong in the move.

Mithilesh Mishra, managing director, BSBCL, said: "The selection of liquor shops was done on the basis of inputs provided by the local administration and the excise department. The shops were selected by the BSBCL depot manager."

According to government instructions, liquor shops were not to be opened near any religious site, school, colleges and hospitals.

Mishra added: "The government order didn't say about not putting up liquor shops near complexes or roads named after Mahatma Gandhi. There are many roads in the state named after Mahatma Gandhi. It doesn't mean that the road will not have any liquor shops."

The Gandhi Complex in Motihari is located on the main road and houses stationery and computer repair shops. With the introduction of the new excise policy in the state, the BSBCL has given the tender to open 17 liquor shops in Motihari Town, while three liquor shops will be opened in Raxaul.