BJP submits memorandum to Bihar governor against Nitish govt

The BJP accused the chief minister Nitish Kumar-led government of stalling Bihar’s development for sheer politics and creating an atmosphere of lawlessness

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation on Sunday called on Bihar governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at the Raj Bhawan and submitted a memorandum, accusing the chief minister Nitish Kumar-led government of stalling the state’s development for sheer politics and creating an atmosphere of lawlessness.

A BJP delegation, headed by the party’s Bihar state president Samrat Choudhary and leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha, met governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at the Raj Bhawan on Sunday. (HT Photo)

Headed by state party president Samrat Choudhary and leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha, the delegation alleged that the state has witnessed a rapid slide in the last one year diluting the progress achieved during the NDA government.

The delegation also blamed the Nitish government for its continued indecisiveness on Bihar’s second All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga due to his sheer U-turn politics.

“The Centre had approved ₹1,264 crore for 750-bed Darbhanga AIIMS in 2015-16 Budget, but the dilly-dallying approach of the Nitish government has delayed it. It was the Nitish government that had first sent a proposal to the Centre after the Bihar Cabinet’s approval for AIIMS on 200 acres of the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), but when the Centre also gave its approval and land filling started, he backtracked after switching over to the Grand Alliance (GA),” the memorandum said.

Choudhary said that just to stall Mithilanchal’s development, which would pick up momentum after AIIMS and for which Narendra Modi government is committed, Nitish Kumar later announced its location on the land of Ashok Paper Mills and again changed it to a site on the bank of Bagmati river, which is 30-feet ditch.

“What is the rationale behind changing the site for AIIMS repeatedly after start of initial work? It shows the state’s intent. The Centre also appointed director for Darbhanga AIIMS last year in June only, which shows its seriousness. The appointment of a director marks the beginning of any big institution. But in August after Nitish Kumar moved over to GA, his thinking changed and he deliberately started creating hurdles. Even a common man knows how long land filling could take on such a big scale and how long it would further take for any construction to start after that, but the GA leaders are trying to mislead the people and delay development work,” he later said.

The memorandum also alleged growing lawlessness and administrative anarchy in the state. “The state is on the brink of yet another spell of ‘jungle Raj’ , which is corroborated by the statement of Patna SP that the state Capital itself has reported 30 murders. If this is the state in the Capital, one can well imagine the situation elsewhere in the state. Despite repeated communal flare ups in Laimur, Sasaram, Biharsharief, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur, the government’s policy of appeasement is preventing it from taking proper action. There is an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. If youth, students, farmers and workers use their democratic rights to protest, they are subjected to lathicharge and attack. BJP also lost one of its leaders when it became the voice of the people,” it added.

Demanding action from the governor to stem the rot, the memorandum said that there was growing resentment due to the government’s backtracking on the promise of 10 lakh jobs. “Action should be taken against the corrupt in the collapse of the ₹1700 crore Sultanganj bridge. The nexus of liquor mafia, land mafia and mining mafia is another big issue behind the collapse of administration and rise in crime graph. Judicial probe needs to be ordered in all these separately,” the memorandum added.

A communique from the Raj Bhawan said that a 50-member delegation of the BJP met the governor and submitted a memorandum in support of its various demands.

There was no immediate reaction from the GA leaders.