Bhopal, April 15 (IANS) Veteran BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday warned the state government over the allocation of liquor shops amid daily protests by women in many parts of the state, saying that ‘watchman is still alive’.

She said that two years ago, a massive campaign was launched in Madhya Pradesh regarding the prohibition of liquor, as a result of which a new liquor policy was announced in early January 2023.

The former Chief Minister said that it was an excise policy made after extensive consultations, which was taking us towards complete prohibition in a couple of years.

“I was waiting for two years for the same policy to be implemented effectively. In the last one and a half years, I have had continuous discussions on this subject with the new government. Whether it is our government or our Chief Minister, many times we do not make our conversations public,” she said.

Bharti added that people think that I have become neutral on the issue of liquor shops, but that is not true. “My mind has been in turmoil for the last four months due to this issue,” she said.

She said that due to this pressing issue, there is widespread public protest, especially from women, over the allotment of shops.

“Have we become careless about the liquor distribution policy? The watchman is still alive. There is no need for stones, the blows of cow dung will be more severe,” the former Chief Minister said.

Since April 1, protests against liquor shops have been witnessed in several parts of the state, including Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur etc.

Most of these protests are being led by a group of women who are demanding the relocation of liquor shops, claiming that existing liquor shops have become a main source of nuisance in their respective areas.

In 2022, Bharti, in a novel campaign, tied two cows in front of a liquor shop in Orchha town of Niwari district, famous for its temples and palaces and exhorted people to drink milk and not alcohol.

In 2023, she camped at a temple in Bhopal for two days demanding that the excise policy of the state be made more stringent.

Before these symbolic protests, she had also pelted stones at a liquor shop located in the Barkhedi Pathani area. Ironically, that liquor shop is still operational.