Balrampur: Chhattisgarh School Education Minister Premsai Singh Tekam courted controversy for speaking about alcohol. Two videos of the minister addressing the gathering at an event in Wadrafnagar organized by the police under the ‘Nasha Mukti Abhiyan’ have been making rounds on the social media.
The minister has recieved much flak from the opposition that said there was no shortage of “cartoons” in the state’s Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Reciting lines of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s legendary book ‘Madhushala’, Tekam said- Harivansh Rai Bachchan ji had written ‘mandir masjid jhagda karate, lekin ek karati madhushala’. But there should be control (in consumption of liquor). You should have control on your own.
He further went on to explain that “daaru (liquor) meant ‘D’, which also stood for dilution with water as well as duration, as all of it must not be had at once.
Tekam at the event educated the audience on the ill effects of alcohol. His remarks came after state BJP MLA Krishnamurti Bandhi had recently suggested that “bhang and cannabis” be encouraged as alternatives to liquor, claiming persons hooked on these substances hardly commit offences like rape, murder and dacoity.