Patna blasts: BJP accuses govt of lapses, Cong, Left demand quick probe

The BJP on Monday refuted the Nitish Kumar government’s claim that there were no intelligence alerts about the serial blasts at Patna, but the Congress and Left parties refrained from attacking the Bihar government. They stressed on quick investigation to solve the case.

The BJP on Monday refuted the Nitish Kumar government’s claim that there were no intelligence alerts about the serial blasts at Patna, but the Congress and Left parties refrained from attacking the Bihar government. They stressed on quick investigation to solve the case.

Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley accused the Bihar government of lapses that led to serial blasts and charged it was soft on terror due to vote bank politics.

Jaitley questioned the state government’s claim that there were no alerts issued from the centre. “This does not appear to be factually correct...A specific alert was sent to the Bihar police by the central Intelligence Bureau on October 23, 2013 with regard to the rally to be addressed by Shri Narendra Modi in Patna,” he said.

The Congress party adopted a cautious approach. “We are not into the blame game. Let the investigation be over but this is also a fact that the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate is vitiating the atmosphere,” said party spokesperson PC Chacko.

New allies of the JD(U), the left parties also cautioned against communal politics in the country. The Bihar state units of three major left parties – the CPI, CPI(M) and CPI- ML( liberation) desisted directly attacking the law and order situation or the chief minister, apparently in a bid not to antagonize the JD(U) leadership.

However, Kumar’s traditional rivals, Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan took him to task for the failure to prevent the serial blasts at Patna.