Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday called for a nationwide ban on sale and consumption of alcohol, PTI reported. “When Gujarat could implement liquor ban, Bihar could show that it could also be banned in the state, why cannot it be banned in the entire country?” he asked Janata Dal (United) workers at an event held in Patna.

The Bihar chief minister asked the Congress and the Left parties why they had not campaigned against the sale of alcohol, The Telegraph reported. A ban on liquor in the entire country would be the biggest sign of communal harmony and respect to all religions, he added.

Implementing prohibition nationwide would bring down the crime rate, road accidents and various diseases, Kumar said. “It [liquor ban] has brought a great change in society and one can feel it in Bihar,” the chief minister said. “Visit the villages and see how peace and harmony prevail now.”

The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of liquor in Bihar on April 1, 2016.