A day after Bihar's prohibition policy marked 10 years, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav criticised the state government on April 6, 2026. He termed it Nitish Kumar's biggest institutional corruption, alleging a parallel illegal liquor economy worth nearly ₹40,000 crore. Yadav claimed an alliance between the government and liquor mafia has undermined the law.
Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of Opposition, posted on X: “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.”
Citing government data, he noted that since prohibition's enforcement, Bihar registered 11 lakh cases and arrested over 16 lakh people. More than 5 crore litres of liquor have been seized, including over 2 crore litres in the past five years—an average of more than 11,000 litres per day.
Yadav questioned how crores of litres of liquor enter Bihar's borders, stating Bihar Police data shows 3.7 lakh litres seized monthly in 2026, or 12,356 litres daily. He claimed actual daily consumption exceeds 10 to 70 lakh litres and demanded publication of consumption figures alongside seizures.
He highlighted that liquor shops rose from about 3,000 in 2005 to 6,000 by 2015 under Nitish Kumar, mostly in rural areas. Yadav alleged the law targets the poor, Dalits, and backward classes among the arrested, with no action against senior officers like SPs or DSPs. Over 350 people have died from spurious liquor since implementation, including nine in East Champaran on April 5, 2026.
