Bihar: BJP MP lashes out at Nitish government

In an embarrassment to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an MP of ally BJP on Sunday questioned the NDA government`s claim of good governance in Bihar.

Purnia: In an embarrassment to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an MP of ally BJP on Sunday questioned the NDA government`s claim of good governance and development in Bihar and alleged that it has lost touch with ground reality as the leadership was "surrounded by sycophants".

"Corruption has become a buzz word in Bihar and the people claim to have not seen prevalence of this magnitude of corruption in the system earlier.... The tall claims of good governance and development are nowhere to be seen across the state," BJP MP Uday Singh said at a public meeting here.

Referring to Kumar, he said the chief minister was living in a `fool`s paradise` if he believed that he was as popular a leader today as he was during the first stint of the NDA government.

"It was a matter of time that the accumulated anger of the people would burst and sweep away the ruling coalition," Singh said in an apparent reference to the protests that Kumar faced during his `Adhikar Yatra` in the districts recently.

Singh, who represents Purnia parliamentary seat, called his public meeting `Vedana (Anguish) rally` which coincided with Kumar`s public meeting in neighbouring Kishanganj district as part of his `Adhikar Yatra`.

He alleged that both Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi were surrounded by sycophants and have lost touch with the ground reality.

The "overbearing and domineering" bureaucracy was compounding the unpopularity of the NDA government in the state by creating a wide gulf between the people and their political representatives.

In his nearly hour-long speech, the BJP MP asked Kumar to find out whether important promises like granting of land to landless mahadalits had been fulfilled or whether people were getting certificates issued by the officials under Right to Service Act without demanding or taking bribes.

Singh said he had tried to bring the maladies of the
government to the attention of top leaders but when he was denied the opportunity he was forced to organize the `Vedana rally`.

He said it was time that the people and their representatives at the panchayats identify their problems in the form of a white paper and submit it to the MLAs and MPs to take up their demands with the authorities and top leadership of their parties.

The BJP MP criticised Kumar for setting up liqour shops in the villages to earn revenue for the purpose of distributing bicycles to school students. "Is earning revenue by playing with life and health of villagers appropriate at all?"

Singh described a ruling JD(U) woman MLA and her associate in Purnia district as `Bunti and Babli` and said they were examples of corruption in the state as they were openly demanding and taking bribes in award of tenders for construction of road, bridge, building and MNREGA by claiming themselves to be close associate of the chief minister.

PTI

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