Why the NDA is keeping quiet on Bihar's liquor ban

As Bihar heads into a crucial election, one subject that defined a decade of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s governance -- prohibition -- has largely disappeared from the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) campaign narrative. The silence is telling. For while prohibition was once paraded as Nitish’s moral and political triumph, its legacy has become an uncomfortable burden.

In contrast, the Opposition, led by the Mahagathbandhan and Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, has placed the contentious liquor ban squarely at the center of their electoral pitch. Both have promised to review or even repeal the law, calling it a failed policy that has hurt the poor more than it has helped society.

A law the NDA no longer wants to talk about
In the nine years since the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act came into effect, the numbers tell a stark story: of the 12.79 lakh people arrested, over 85% belong to Scheduled Castes, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), reported The Indian Express. These are precisely the social groups that form the core of Bihar’s electoral base, and the NDA knows it.

The ruling alliance, led by the JD(U)-BJP combine, has been conspicuously quiet about prohibition, even as it forms a key plank of Opposition attacks.

“The NDA knows it will not help the alliance,” said RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari, Express reported. “Rather, it has become a noose around the neck of the NDA – Nitish can neither claim to have enforced the law fully, nor can he lift the ban.”

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, however, defended the Chief Minister’s decision. “Several reports suggest that the quality of life has improved post the liquor ban. There could be some issues with enforcement because of limited police personnel and the porous Indo-Nepal border… But the benefits of a liquor ban cannot be disputed,” he said, as per the same report.

Opposition’s promise
In contrast, the Mahagathbandhan’s 32-page manifesto promises a review of the prohibition law and an end to the ban on toddy (tari). It vows to release those jailed under the law and provide “immediate relief to Dalits and other poor people languishing in jail for violating it.”

“Communities in the toddy business for generations have no other means of livelihood,” said Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate, adding that prohibition has led to massive job and income losses.

The CPI (M-L) Liberation, a key Mahagathbandhan ally, has taken the lead within the coalition. Its general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya speaking to ANI, reiterated that if the alliance came to power, it would “review the liquor ban” comprehensively.

But the loudest voice has come from political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj Party has made prohibition a cornerstone of its campaign. “I am not against the ethical aspect of a liquor ban,” Kishor told The Indian Express. “But evidence-based policies across the world suggest that a liquor ban is not enforceable… Bihar’s liquor law is a total failure, creating an illicit economy of Rs 20,000 crore annually.”

Kishor has repeatedly said he would lift the ban “within 15 minutes” of coming to power.

The arc of Nitish’s prohibition
Ironically, Nitish Kumar -- once seen as a champion of pragmatic governance -- was the architect of Bihar’s prohibition policy. In 2015, riding a historic electoral victory in alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD, Nitish announced the liquor ban, presenting it as a “pro-women” and “moral” decision inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s views on temperance.

At the time, the move was politically strategic. It burnished Nitish’s “sushashan” (good governance) image and countered Narendra Modi’s “vikas purush” narrative. Women’s self-help groups under the JEEViKA scheme had long demanded such a ban, blaming alcohol for domestic violence and household poverty.

The CM’s announcement was initially met with applause -- particularly among rural women. A 2024 Lancet report even claimed that 21 lakh women in Bihar reported zero domestic violence after prohibition, a striking statistic in a state that once accounted for nearly 40% of such cases nationwide.

But the policy’s political dividends were fleeting. After Nitish rejoined the NDA in 2017, his JD(U)’s influence began to wane. In the 2020 Assembly elections, the party’s tally fell from 71 seats to just 43, barely half that of the BJP’s.

Legal, social, and economic fallout
What was framed as a moral crusade has since spiraled into a law enforcement and governance crisis. Former Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, in 2021, criticised the liquor law as one that “lacked administrative foresight,” saying it had led to a “clogging” of Bihar’s courts.

Amendments have followed: leniency for first-time offenders, community fines, and even property confiscation for repeat violations. Yet enforcement remains patchy, and the black market for liquor thrives -- an “illicit economy” now pegged by experts and politicians alike at Rs 20,000 crore annually.

The state has also faced repeated hooch tragedies, claiming over 300 lives. Nitish’s infamous remark -- “ Jo piyega, woh marega” (Those who drink will die) -- provoked outrage. In 2023, he softened his stance, announcing Rs 4 lakh compensation for families of victims of such incidents since 2016.

Political Tightrope
Today, Nitish finds himself cornered by the contradictions of his own policy. Lifting the ban would alienate women — among his most loyal constituencies -- while defending it risks alienating the backward classes and poor communities most affected by its enforcement.

For the NDA, the political calculus is simple: silence. For the Opposition, the same silence is opportunity.

BJP state vice-president Santosh Pathak downplayed the issue, saying, “The law does have a lot of positives. As for Kishor’s take on it, we do not take him seriously as a political player.”

But for millions of Biharis -- from the daily wage workers imprisoned under the law to the families shattered by hooch tragedies -- prohibition remains an everyday reality.