A day after vandalising the liquor shop in Bhopal, the BJP leader Uma Bharti justified her action by saying she hurled a stone at alcohol bottles kept on a shelf there to protect the ‘honour’ of women and girls residing in the residential colony. She asked the Madhya Pradesh government to immediately close down alcohol shops and ‘ahatas’ (enclosed places in the vicinity of these outlets) opened in prohibited areas in violation of rules. As per government rules, liquor shops are not allowed near schools and places of worship in the state.

1) बरखेड़ा पठानी आझाद नगर, बीएचईएल भोपाल , यहाँ मज़दूरों की बस्ती में शराब की दुकानों की शृंखला हैं जो की एक बड़े आहाता में लोगों को शराब परोसते हैं । pic.twitter.com/dNAXrh1jRY
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) March 13, 2022

She took to Twitter saying she has warned the local administration to shut down the store within a week. The vandalised liquor store is situated near the slum in the Barkheda Pathani area of Pathani, she said. The former chief minister, who has been demanding a total ban on liquor in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, wrote a letter to the chief minister Shiv Raj Singh saying the government should at least shut down the liquor shops.

3) मज़दूरों की पूरी कमाई इन दुकानो में फूक जाती हैं । यहाँ के निवासियों एवं महिलाओं ने आपत्तियाँ की, विरोध में धरने दिए क्यूँकि यह दुकान सरकारी नीति के ख़िलाफ़ हैं ।
— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) March 13, 2022

In the letter, Uma Bharti explained the circumstances leading to the vandalisation of a liquor shop. The BJP leader said she was moved by the plight of women in the area who were affected by the sale of liquor in their area. “At the request of women from the Barkheda Pathani area of the city, I went to meet them. They told me that in the vicinity of a liquor shop, there is a labourer colony that has schools and temples. These women have been agitating for the last three years to get the liquor shop closed, but in vain,” she said.

The BJP said that the local administration gave several assurances in the past that it would close the liquor shops but failed to take action against these establishments. Bharti met Chouhan in the past over the issue and the Chief Minister had told her the BJP government would run an awareness campaign to achieve the goal of total prohibition in the state.