Bhopal, July 3 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh BJP on Friday dismissed as “false and misleading” social media claims that the state government plans to open separate liquor shops for women, alleging that a proposal floated by the previous Congress government is being wrongly attributed to the present BJP administration.

Issuing a clarification, BJP state media in-charge Ashish Agarwal said the proposal to open women-friendly liquor shops was announced in February 2020 by the then Congress government led by Kamal Nath.

“The claim being circulated on various social media platforms linking the BJP government with separate liquor shops for women is completely misleading, baseless and false. The decision was taken by the Congress government under the leadership of Kamal Nath in 2020,” Agarwal said.

According to the BJP, the party had strongly opposed the proposal while it was in the Opposition, forcing the Congress government to withdraw the decision. It further said the proposal was never implemented after the change of government in the state in March 2020.

The BJP asserted that neither the present state government nor the party has any connection with such a proposal and that no plan to open separate liquor shops for women is under consideration.

“The BJP has never supported opening liquor shops for women, nor is any such proposal under consideration today. Our government has demonstrated its commitment by closing liquor shops near religious places and other sensitive areas,” Agarwal said.

The party said it has consistently advocated a society free from substance abuse and cited the closure of liquor shops around religious and other sensitive locations as an example of the BJP government’s policy.

Appealing to people not to fall for unverified social media posts, the BJP urged citizens to verify facts before forwarding such content. It alleged that misinformation was being spread by linking a decision of the former Congress government to the current BJP dispensation.

The clarification comes amid the circulation of social media posts claiming that the Madhya Pradesh government was planning to introduce separate liquor outlets for women, prompting the ruling party to issue a detailed rebuttal.

–IANS

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