Encourage use of bhang, cannabis as option to liquor to prevent crime: Chhattisgarh BJP MLA
Bilaspur, Jul 24: Chhattisgarh BJP MLA Dr Krishnamurti Bandhi has suggested that the use of bhang and cannabis be encouraged as alternatives to liquor for addiction, claiming that persons hooked on these substances hardly commit offences like rape, murder and dacoity.
The legislator's statement, which he had made while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in the state's Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district on Saturday, triggered a row with the ruling Congress questioning how a public representative can promote addiction.
The sale and consumption of cannabis is banned under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, while that of bhang, an edible mixture made using leaves of cannabis plant, is permitted under the law, officials said.
Replying to a query about the Congress's poll promise of liquor ban in the state, Bandhi, who represents Masturi Assembly constituency,said, "We have earlier raised the issue in the state assembly and it will again be raised on July 27 as discussion on the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition BJP (in the assembly against Congress government) is scheduled that day."
" It is my personal opinion and once I had discussed it in the assembly in the past. I had told that somewhere alcohol is the reason for rape, murder and quarrel, but I asked (in the House) tell me whether a person who consumes bhang has ever committed rape, murder and dacoity?...To meet the addiction requirement and ban liquor, a committee has been constituted (in the state).
"The committee should think how we can move ahead towards bhang and ganja (cannabis). If people want addiction, then they should be served such stuff which does not result in murder, rape and other offences. It is my personal opinion," he said.
Reacting to the MLA's statement, Congress's Bilaspur district unit spokesperson Abhay Narayan Rai on Sunday said how Bandhi, who is three-time MLA and former state health minister, can give such a statement to promote addiction instead of suggesting ways to free society of it.
"Option to addiction cannot be addiction. Such immature ideas are unacceptable in a civilised society," Rai added.
"भांग-गांजा के प्रयोग से बलात्कार एवं हत्या नही होती है, सरकार और समितियों को चाहिए की भांग गांजे के सेवन को बढ़ावा देने पर ध्यान दे..."
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) July 24, 2022
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
