In Bihar, the prohibition law has become a joke, says Tejashwi Yadav

A day after the completion of 10 years of Prohibition Policy in Bihar, the Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Monday (April 6, 2026) criticised the State government, calling it “Nitish Kumar’s biggest institutional corruption”.

He alleged that an illegal parallel liquor economy worth nearly ₹40,000 crore has emerged under the policy. He also alleged that there is an alliance between the government and the liquor mafia, due to which the law has failed to achieve its purpose.

“Prohibition has proven to be Nitish Kumar’s biggest institutional corruption. As a result, Bihar has seen the rise of an illegal parallel economy worth ₹ 40,000 crore,”Mr. Yadav said in a social media post on X.

He pointed out that the Home and Excise Department, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the prohibition law, has mostly remained with Mr. Kumar.

Quoting the government data, Mr. Yadav said, “After prohibition was enforced, Bihar has registered 11 lakh cases and arrested over 16 lakh people. So far, more than 5 crore litres of liquor have been seized. In the past 5 years, over 2 crore litres of liquor have been confiscated—that’s an average of more than 11,000 litres per day.”

He raised concerns that, beyond illegal liquor, the failure of this law has led to an increase in the trade of dry substances and other types of narcotics in Bihar. He claimed that youths are consuming ganja, brown sugar, and intoxicating drugs.

He asked the government to explain how, when, why, and with whose help crores of litres of liquor are entering Bihar’s borders. “No one is dropping it off by parachute, after all? Instead of seizures, the government should publicise consumption figures too,”Mr. Yadav said.

He asked the State government to also show the figure of liquor consumption in Bihar along with seizures.

“According to Bihar Police’s own data, in 2026, an average of 3.7 lakh litres of illegal liquor was seized per month, meaning 12,356 litres per day. However, according to ground realities, daily liquor consumption in Bihar exceeds 10 to 70 lakh litres.

According to the Bihar government, in 2026 there’s been an 18% spike in seizures,”Mr. Yadav said.

He asserted that in 2005, there were about 3,000 liquor shops across the State, but under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, the number increased to 6,000 by 2015. He added that most of these shops were opened by Mr. Kumar in rural areas and panchayats so that liquor could reach every home.

Taking a dig at the State government, Mr. Yadav said that now Bihar government is pretending to be reformers in the name of prohibition, but the reality is that in its name, they have promoted institutional corruption, making the bureaucracy unchecked, corrupt, complacent, and tyrannical.

“In Bihar, the prohibition law has become a joke. Under the cover of this law, only the poor are being targeted. Of the nearly 16 lakh or more arrested under the prohibition law, the vast majority are poor, Dalit, backward, and extremely backward class people,”Mr. Yadav said.

He asked why no action has been taken against any SP, DSP, or senior officer in any district. In Bihar, over 350 people have died due to the consumption of spurious liquor ever since the law has been implemented. More recently, nine people have died in a hooch tragedy in Bihar’s East Champaran district on April 5, 2026.

Published – April 07, 2026 02:10 am IST