PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who seldom if ever lets go of an opportunity to lampoon his political adversaries, on Friday targeted BJP president Amit Shah, who was trapped inside a lift at the state guesthouse here for about 40 minutes.
“A man like Shah shouldn’t have got into the lift as Bihar lifts are not made to carry such fat people,” he told reporters.
The incident took place at around 11.15 am when the BJP president was proceeding from the ground floor to first floor along with party in-charge for Bihar Bhupendra Yadav, secretary Nagendra, general secretary Saudan Singh and security personnel.
Later, Shah and his associates were rescued by the CRPF personnel-- who broke open the doors of the elevator-- stationed in the compound as part of the BJP chief’s Z plus security cover.
Senior BJP leader C P Thakur said, “A conspiracy cannot be ruled out in the incident .” Accusing the state government of neglecting a guest in the state guesthouse, fellow BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said,” Why was nobody there to attend to him in the lift?
However, the state government officials denied that the incident was caused due to a technical snag.
“The lift at the state guesthouse is brand new with a total capacity of 340 kg. People accompanying Shah had said that more than five people were inside the lift at the time of the incident and it indicated that the total weight of the occupants exceeded the permissible limit,” clarified Principal Secretary for Cabinet Coordination, Shishir Sinha.
Earlier also, Shah had been made fun of by his political rivals when he came here on the occasion of International Yoga Day on June 21. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had then advised the BJP chief to do yoga regularly.
“Has he found out whether it is suitable for him to do yoga? He should practise yoga regularly at home everyday to stay fit. This will bring internal changes in him too,” Nitish had said.