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UP: After losing son to liver cirrhosis, BJP MP, wife to launch campaign against alcohol abuse
From December 3, Kishore and his wife Jaya Devi, a BJP lawmaker from Malihabad assembly segment, would administer a pledge to thousand young people to say no to liquor.
Weeks after losing his 28-year old son to liver cirrhosis due to excessive drinking, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Lucknow’s Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha constituency, Kaushal Kishore, has decided to roll out a campaign to save the young from “getting consumed by the brew”.
Cirrhosis is a late-stage liver damage caused by a variety of factors, with chronic alcoholism being among the leading causes, say doctors.
From December 3, Kishore and his wife Jaya Devi, a BJP lawmaker from Malihabad assembly segment, would administer a pledge against alcohol consumption to a thousand young people. He said he intends to run it as a regular campaign under which each of the participants would be tasked with taking the campaign forward.
He said his three other sons will be a part of the campaign that would be launched from Lucknow’s Gandhi Bhawan auditorium on December 3.
The MP’s son, Aakash Kishore, died on October 19 and he regrets how he couldn’t save his own child. “One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I got so many young people to give up liquor but failed to do so with my own son. Liquor ruined his life. He has left behind his wife and a two-year-old son,” he said.
“When I was admitted for coronavirus infection, my son again resumed his drinking and it proved fatal. He died due to liver cirrhosis. I lost my son but now I don’t want any other parent to suffer the same,” he said.
While praising Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to ban liquor in his state, the BJP MP, however, said such bans aren’t of much help unless the will to refrain from drinking comes from within.
“We need to motivate young people to be able to say no to those who entice them to take to drinking. I want to build it into a nationwide movement, and for that purpose, we have decided to take Rs 100 from each person who commits himself for the cause,” said the BJP MP.
His wife, Jaya Devi, said, “Someone must have got my son to drink for the first time. That first time is when one needs to stay strong. This strength can come from one’s own conscience.”
The couple has also shared about their campaign on social media. “People have been writing their appreciation for our move. Someone had to make a start somewhere,” they said.
