Nitish Kumar govt indulging in vote bank politics, says BJP

BJP charged the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar with indulging in "vote bank politics", saying it failed to use the opportunity to arrest Yasin Bhatkal first and grill him on terror modules.

Bangalore: BJP on Tuesday charged the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar with indulging in "vote bank politics", saying it failed to use the opportunity to arrest Yasin Bhatkal first and grill him on terror modules. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Bihar could have taken custody of Bhatkal as he was tracked by Intelligence Bureau on Nepal-Bihar border. "It could have grilled him for his connection with Darbhanga and Madhubani module. Instead of performing this basic national duty, it allowed vote bank politics to dominate the decision making process and lost the opportunity to finish these and other modules present in Bihar", he said. Ultimately, NIA had to be flown in to arrest Bhatkal, Javadekar said, adding, the State police could not maintain secrecy of his arrest and thereby gave an opportunity to his accomplices to flee from their hideout. "Within half an hour the terrorist Tehsin, who is the mastermind of Patna bomb blasts fled from his hideout in Mangalore as soon as he heard the news of Bhatkal`s arrest on TV. From Mangalore, he went to Pushkar and Ranchi and organised these bomb blasts. This is a glaring failure of Bihar police", he said. Javadekar said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has exhibited insensitivity by attending a film party despite knowledge of the Patna bomb blasts. "Even today, he (Shinde) is doing flip- flop on whether IB has issued specific alert or not", he said. "IB briefs Rahul Gandhi regularly and does not brief the Home Minister whom they should report". On Congress leader Salman Khurshid`s statement that Shinde "has a life beyond Patna", Javadekar said: "Then he (Shinde) should resign from Ministry. He can have life beyond Ministry also". BJP, he said, also holds Congress-led UPA responsible for "rising graph of terror activities" in the country as it has adopted a "soft approach towards terror".