Will meet Bihar CM and seek justice, says social welfare minister Sahni

Lying low for the past few days after threatening to resign from the cabinet, social welfare minister Madan Sahni on Sunday said he would meet chief minister Nitish Kumar soon to seek justice regarding the issues raised by him earlier

Lying low for the past few days after threatening to resign from the cabinet, social welfare minister Madan Sahni on Sunday said he would meet chief minister Nitish Kumar soon to seek justice regarding the issues raised by him earlier.

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Sahni, who was in New Delhi on Saturday, said he was there for some urgent work and rubbished the speculations of meeting ailing RJD chief Lalu Prasad. “I did not meet Lalu Ji, neither I am in touch with him. This is all rubbish,” he said while talking to reporters in the national capital.

The minister, who is hogging the limelight after threatening to resign alleging high handedness of officials in his department a few days back, said he was still firm on his decision to tender his papers but would first meet the chief minister to apprise him of the situation.

“I have offered to resign because I am miffed with the work culture in the bureaucracy. I will explain everything to the CM and leave it to him to address the issue. I expect the CM to say who is wrong. If I do not get justice, I will make a decision,” the minister said.

The minister, who belongs to the JD(U), said his recent outbursts were aimed at highlighting how bureaucrats were calling the shots and not paying much heed to ministers.

However, Sahni sounded a bit softened in terms of his relationship with the chief minister, indicating there could be some back-channel talks going on by his party to mollify the CM. “Nitish Kumar is my leader. If I have reached such heights in my career, it is because of him,” he said.

A few days back, Sahni had said the chief minister should probe the assets of bureaucrats close to him, which fuelled the speculations that the minister’s relationship with Kumar had strained. “I have always had faith in our chief minister. He listens to all. I am confident he would listen to me and do justice,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, JD(U) national president R C P Singh underplayed the belligerent stand taken by the social welfare minister against top officers and the questions he raised on work culture in the state administration. “Our party is like a house where such acts of expression of anger by some members often happen. Sahni Ji must have aired some views out of anger,” he said.

Singh also took potshots at the leader of the opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for reiterating that the present government led by the NDA would fall soon. “He keeps saying such things to console himself. Our government is stable and will complete its full term. Nobody should be in doubt about it,” he said.

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