PATNA: The BJP today took exception to restoration of Amir Subhani to the post of Principal Secretary (Home) alleging that he had failed to deal with law and order situation during Nitish Kumar's earlier five-year stint as CM which was marred by serial blasts in Bodh Gaya and Patna among a host of other major incidents.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that Kumar restored him though serial blasts at Bodh Gaya and Patna and the death of 33 people in stampede here last year occurred when Subhani was in that post.
"How come there can be improvement on law and order front under stewardship of an official whose previous tenure had seen rapid spurt in crime?" Modi asked in a statement.
Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had removed Subhani from the post of Principal Secretary (Home) three months ago and replaced him with a Dalit bureaucrat Sudhir Kumar, a decision with which Nitish Kumar was reportedly unhappy.
The senior IAS official's continuation as the Principal Secretary (Home) had evoked sharp reaction from the BJP earlier too but JD(U) came to the rescue of the bureaucrat charging the saffron party with victimizing the official on religious ground.
The Chief Minister had effected a major administrative reshuffle yesterday restoring a number of senior bureaucrats, including Subhani, to key posts they had held earlier before being shunted out by Manjhi.
Modi also questioned the timing of the administrative reshuffle and wanted to know whether it was done on the basis of merit or considering the 'help they will render' to the ruling JD(U) during the Assembly polls due later this year.