PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday found himself embroiled in a controversy after it was revealed that a Janata Dal (U) functionary, who had taken a selfie with him at his official residence two days ago, was a liquor smuggler and an accused in a hooch tragedy.
Rakesh Singh, block president of the ruling JD(U) in Bhojpur district, was photographed with Nitish Kumar at the latter's 1, Anne Marg official residence in Patna on Sunday. He is accused in the December 2012 spurious liquor tragedy case in Ara in which 29 people lost their lives.
Rakesh Singh visited the chief minister's residence on Sunday along with Harindra Singh, a retired school headmaster who set an anti-dowry example recently by returning the Rs 4 lakh cash he had received as dowry for his son's wedding.
Nitish Kumar, who launched a statewide campaign against dowry and child marriage on October 2, had invited Harindra Singh and his son for a personal meeting and felicitation. Nitish hugged Harindra Singh and lauded his courageous decision that was inspired by the state government's ongoing campaign against dowry.
Photographs of Nitish Kumar with Harindra Singh, his son and Rakesh Singh were splashed in the newspapers. Rakesh Singh not only stood close to the CM during the photo session but also took a few selfies with him.
Rakesh Singh, who has the image of a muscle-flexing politician in Bhojpur, has spent two years in jail in connection with the hooch tragedy case and is currently out on bail facing trial, sources said. Some 29 people were killed after drinking hooch supplied from a shop he owned.
Soon after his selfie with Nitish Kumar went viral on social media, the opposition RJD jeered the CM, linking the incident with the latest hooch tragedy in Rohtas, in which illicit liquor claimed four lives on Friday.
An embarrassed JD(U) swiftly removed Rakesh Singh as the party's block president and expelled him from primary membership of the party. Rakesh Singh, however, said he was "wrongly implicated" in the 2012 case.
"He (Rakesh) is a distant relative of Harindra Singh. We (JD-U) had no knowledge of his criminal past," said JD(U) state president Bashistha Narayan Singh.
But leader of the opposition, Tejaswi Yadav dubbed the episode as part of Nitish Kumar's "farce" of prohibition. "Nitish Kumar invited a hooch tragedy accused to his official residence and honoured him. This is part of his farce of prohibition, which was launched to embellish his national image," said Yadav.