BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government is considering banning liquor in religious cities and towns of the state, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav announced on Monday.”Our government is considering amending our policy pertaining to religious cities and towns to enforce total ban on liquor there. Many seers have already recommended to prohibit liquor in such cities/towns, after which the government is seriously considering to impose such a ban within the limits of religious cities/towns through appropriate amendments in the excise policy. A decision will soon be taken about it,” the CM said in Bhopal.The development happened just a day after the CM continued with his name changing spree to rename villages having Muslim names. On Sunday, the CM had announced renaming 11 villages of western MP’s Shajapur district, particularly with names inspired by Hindu deities. The 11 villages of Shajapur district were renamed a week after the CM announced a similar move for three villages in his home district of Ujjain. Both Shajapur and Ujjain are adjoining districts in western MP and considered a strong base of the RSS and BJP in Malwa region.In accordance with what the CM said on Monday, once the state actually bans liquor in the religious cities and towns by making amendments in the coming excise policy, the ban will come into effect in 17 such cities and towns, which have been categorized as holy (religious) by successive governments in MP between 2004 and 2013.Such cities and towns, include the CM’s home city of Ujjain, Amarkantak, Maheshwar, Orchha, Omkareshwar, Mandla, Multai, Mandla (Narmadaghat), Jabalpur, Chitrakoot, Maihar, Salkanpur, Mandaleshwar, Mandsaur, Barman and Panna.The latest development happened two days after the CM had reportedly discussed with officials about the new excise policy.Importantly, four months ago, the MP CM had directed officials to ensure that meat and liquor aren’t consumed in religious towns on the banks of river Narmada in the state. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the cabinet committee on integrated development of river Narmada in September 2024.There are 430 ancient Shiva temples, two Shakti Peeths situated on the banks of the holy river that flows through 1079 km of Madhya Pradesh, after originating from Amarkantak in Anuppur district in eastern part of the state.
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