A key Lok Sabha member from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU has joined smaller NDA allies to demand a review of the state’s stringent prohibition policy, reenergising the debate within the ruling alliance.

Sitamarhi MP and industrialist Devesh Chandra Thakur said scrapping the prohibition law would be a welcome move, claiming he had been among the few leaders who opposed the legislation when it was introduced in 2016.

“I was among those who had opposed the policy when it was being brought. I had conveyed my opposition to my leader (Nitish Kumar). So, if it is scrapped, it would be very good,” Thakur said in a podcast with the news channel Bihar Tak.

His remarks come days after Union ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan — who head the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), respectively — pitched for a review of the policy, arguing that weak implementation had undermined its stated objectives.

So far, however, leaders from the two dominant NDA partners in Bihar — the BJP and the JDU — had refrained from publicly supporting such demands, making Thakur’s intervention politically significant.

While acknowledging the good intention behind the introduction of prohibition, Thakur described the policy as impractical. He argued that prohibition had failed globally and was unlikely to succeed in a landlocked state such as Bihar, where porous inter-state borders made enforcement difficult.

Thakur revealed that after the law was passed by the Bihar Assembly, MLAs and MLCs (members of the Legislative Council) were asked to take an oath to uphold prohibition and abstain from alcohol.

“I had skipped the oath in the House. Later, my leader asked why I was absent, and I told him that while I would respect the law within Bihar, how could I take a vow not to consume alcohol outside the state?” he said.

Asked why the state government had not initiated a review despite persistent reports of illegal liquor trade, the JDU MP declined to comment, saying the decision ultimately rested with “the leader”.

“Right or wrong, it is the leader’s decision,” he said.

Nitish is learnt to be firmly opposed to reconsidering the prohibition policy, which is widely believed to have consolidated women voters in his favour. The chief minister
also seems to be wary of the electoral risks associated with its rollback.

Last week, Union food processing minister Chirag Paswan, whose LJP (RV) has emerged as a significant force within the NDA, had strongly backed a review of the policy. “Even today in Bihar, toxic liquor is available. It is being manufactured, and the way it is being brought in from bordering areas — people are literally carrying it in their bags,” Paswan had said.