After liquor shops, reopen religious places too: MP Congress

After the Madhya Pradesh government ordered reopening of liquor shops amid lockdown, the Congress on Saturday demanded that religious places to be allowed to open, as in other states. The state government had ordered in the first week of May that liquor shops reopen except in red zones.

On Friday, the administration in Bhopal, which falls in the red zone, allowed liquor shops in the district to operate. The government should also allow the opening of religious places of all faiths from June 1, as in Karnataka and West Bengal, former chief minister Kamal Nath said.

"After ensuring necessary parameters are followed, it should be decided and implemented," the Congress leader tweeted. "When the government can open liquor shops in the lockdown by going against the wishes of common people in the state, then why the religious places... are still closed?" he asked.

The state BJP said the Congress indulges in doublespeak on every issue. "Congress is confused about whether it is a regional party or a national one. Why it is not giving the same advice to its governments in neighbouring states? "The state government will take a suitable decision at the right time to protect people," Rajneesh Agrawal, state BJP spokesperson, said.