Bihar will not postpone human chain; Nitish shrugs off BJP call after boat mishap

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had suggested Sunday that the government should put off the statewide human chain programme .
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. | File Photo
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. | File Photo

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday pooh-poohed the Opposition BJP’s suggestion that the statewide human chain programme being organised by the state government be postponed till a later date on account of the Patna boat tragedy in which 24 people were killed.

“The human chain would be a historic event that will reflect the overwhelming support of Bihar’s people for the statewide total prohibition implemented by our government,” said Kumar as he accused BJP of adopting double standards.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had suggested Sunday that the government should put off the statewide human chain programme scheduled for January 21.

“When the train derailment took place in Kanpur, had they (BJP) postponed their programme in Uttar Pradesh? I had cancelled the scheduled programme of issuing the annual report card of the state government after that incident,” asked Kumar. Derailment of the Indore-Patna Express at Pukhrayan in Kanpur Dehat on November 21 had caused the death of 150 people.

Slamming Sushil Kumar Modi for insinuating that the state government did not spend enough for the Makar Sankranti kite-flying festival, Kumar said, without naming the BJP leader, “Pehle statement dijiyega kuchh, aur bhitar se pench lagaiyega kuchh aur!” (You say something first, and then you secretly adopt a different ploy!)

Modi had said that the Bihar government spent Rs 200 crore for Prakashotsav but did not spend even a “phuti kauri” for the Makar Sankranti festival. “Did not he (Modi) take credit for Prakashotsav saying the Centre had helped it with funds?” asked Kumar.

“This Makar Sankranti programme was started when we were running the NDA government in Bihar. As far as I remember, these BJP people were very eager about organising this programme,” said Kumar, adding, “This is no such important programme like Chhath”.

The CM, however, declined to comment on Modi’s charge a day before that Kumar’s three-party coalition government had been neglecting festivals of the Hindus though it made grand preparations to celebrate festivals of Sikhs and Buddhists earlier this month.

Sushil Modi on Monday excoriated the government for its “visible disinterest” in a probe into the boat mishap and demanded that an all-party probe committee be formed to conduct a serious investigation.

“Instead of taking any action against officials responsible for the massive neglect that led to the boat tragedy, the government is merely speaking evasively. We want responsibility to be fixed and action taken,” added Modi.

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