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Bihar BJP MLA gets pass to drive to Kota to bring back daughter
BJP’s MLA from Hisua (Nawada), Anil Singh obtained a pass from the Nawada district administration for driving to Kota to bring back his daughter.
While Bihar chief minister Nitish has been steadfast in refusing to evacuate the state’s students stranded in in Kota in Rajasthan during the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, his ally BJP’s MLA from Hisua (Nawada), Anil Singh has just returned from Kota with his daughter.
Singh had obtained a pass from the Nawada district administration for driving to Kota and back, a distance of over 2,200 km.
Kota is a coaching hub for medical and engineering competitive exams and draws students from different parts of the country. After the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to evacuate its students in 250 buses, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh governments are also planning to do the same, which would increase the pressure on Nitish Kumar further to carry out similar evacuation.
Nawada ‘s sub-divisional officer (SDO) Anu Kumar, who is authorized to issue passes, said the MLA had claimed that his daughter who was preparing for medical entrance exams at Allen Institute, was not well and needed to be brought back.
“He had met the district magistrate also. We do issue passes when required, but only to vehicles from Nawada needing to go anywhere,” he added.
The pass was issued in the name of the legislator for a 10-day period from April 16 to April 25. He returned on April 18 after driving virtually nonstop.
The MLA said that he had done no wrong nor any of his actions could be termed violation of lockdown in anyway. “There is provision for pass in view of extremely important work. I applied for e-pass as per laid down provisions as for me bringing my daughter was of utmost importance, the pass was issued and I went following the guidelines and returned. What is wrong in it? There should not be politics over it,” he asked.
“Most of the children have left Kota after they met the district magistrate in groups and the latter issued passes to them to travel in buses. However, I don’t approve of that, as the very concept of social distancing would not be maintained in buses. I went on my personal vehicle along with food and water so that I did not have to stop anywhere,” he added.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, however, was unsparing in his attack on Nitish Kumar, his former boss. “Nitishji rejected the appeal of hundreds of students stranded in Kota on the plea that it would be against the spirit of lockdown, but his government was quick to grant special permission to a BJP MLA to bring his ward back,” he tweeted.
RJD was also quick to describe it as a reflection of VIP culture. RJD leader Mriyunjay Tiwari said there should not be double standard.
BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said the MLA had followed all the procedures and there should not be any politics over it. “District administrations issue travel passes to anyone for a genuine cause. There is no special treatment. Some people are in the habit of misinterpreting things.
