PATNA, Oct. 12 -- Apart from liquor, abuse of narcotic substances is a challenge for the security forces as Bihar leaps towards assembly polls to be conducted in two phases on November 6 and 11. In the first Assembly election in dry Bihar in 2020, preventing use of liquor to lure voters and influence polling was a big challenge for the Election Commission and it remained so till the very end, with seizure of 7.80-lakh litres worth Rs.15.61-crore from different parts of the state during the period of model code of conduct. In 2025, there is another challenge added to liquor, which continues to find its way into the state despite recoveries and arrests -- spurt in recovery of narcotics like heroin, brown sugar, chakras, opium etc. The liquor recovery was to the tune of 8-13-lakh litres worth Rs.26.07-crore during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Having promised prohibition to women during 2015 assembly election campaigning, chief minister Nitish Kumar had ordered total prohibition in the state on April 5, 2016, bringing down curtains on all the liquor shops. This followed a unanimous decision of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Bihar Legislative Council, where members cutting across party lines took a pledge not to use liquor and discouraged others from using it. However, as years rolled by, political parties, including those in the ruling dispensation, started showing concern over its ill-effects due to inability to check its flow despite stringent laws. Traffickers use creative methods, including hiding liquor in vehicles, cargo, and passenger trains, to smuggle alcohol into the state. The challenge has only got bigger, as indicated by the statistics of the police headquarters. The statistics point to an increase in liquor recovery in 2025 compared to 2024. It was 34.61-lakh litres in 2024, but it has already reached 23.57-lakh litres in the first eight months by August 2025. "The recoveries include 9.69-lakh litres of IMFL with bulk of 27% smuggled from UP, 20% from Punjab, and rest from West Bengal, Haryana, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. In September 2025, it further increased, leading to 1.90-lakh litres recovery, seizure of 37 vehicles and arrest of 55 persons," said a senior official. Over all, by August 2025, he said, 84789 persons had been arrested, including 52470 drinkers and 29903 involved in liquor trade. Besides, there 42,233 FIRs have been registered, 10734 vehicles seized and 23.57-lakh litres of IMFL recovered, including 12.38-lakh litres of IMFL worth Rs.189-crore. In Bihar, liquor ban has been a big political issue, with the opposition -- be it the BJP or the RJD -- finding fault with its implementation from time to time, as it suited them. HAM-s of Jitan Ram Manjhi has also been a vocal against it, terming it anti-poor....