Patna: The relation between khaini and politicians in Bihar is very old even as the state government mulls banning khaini in the state after liquor.
There are several politicians in Bihar who chew khaini on a daily basis. Veteran socialist leader and former parliamentarian Shivanand Tiwari claimed that even chief minister Nitish Kumar chews khaini apart from RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Lalu chews khaini on a daily basis and he likes it so much that he had even taken khaini to Pakistan in 2003 as a Parliament delegate.
"As far as I know Nitish Kumar too chews khaini and he is taking it for years. More recently, I have heard that he take khaini wrapped in a paper so that no one can see. But we know that he chews tobacco. I do not know how he is taking it these days but Lalu ji still chews khaini. Sharad Yadav also take tobacco. Even I used to eat khaini for a long time but I quit after I realised it was harmful," Tiwari said, who hold the post of the national vice-president of the RJD.
Tiwari was earlier very close to Nitish and was a Rajya Sabha member on a JDU ticket.
He further said: "Banning khaini will not make people quit the habit."
People coming from rural background and villages are habituated to it. Lalu still has the habit of getting his khaini with chuna (edible lime) prepared by one of his followers.
There is a rumours that as chief minister Lalu had even asked a senior IAS officer to prepare khaini for him. However, like others, Lalu doesn't hide his addiction to tobacco. When Lalu was in Ranchi jail recently, his followers used to take special tobacco from Patna.
The state government is soon going to send a letter to the Centre, urging it to notify khaini as a food product. If this happens, khaini would automatically be banned in the state and even nationwide.
According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, any food product which has presence of tobacco and nicotine in it, has to be banned but khaini is not a food product as per the food products list of the FSSAI.
According to the Global Adults Tobacco (GATS-2) Survey, of 25.9 per cent tobacco users in the state, 23.5 per cent is related to smokeless tobacco and of this 20.4 per cent are khaini consumers alone.
