After remarks on Patna, J&K governor clarifies, lauds Nitish for law and order

Terming Bihar as repository of skill and agriculture under Nitish Kumar, Malik said the chief ministers of other states should follow the development model enacted by their Bihar counterpart.

Seeking to clarify his earlier remarks that quoted him as saying that Patna recorded more murders than Jammu and Kashmir, J&K governor Satya Pal Malik Monday said his statement was projected “wrongly” and that Bihar had zero tolerance to crime.

CM Nitish Kumar and J&K governor Satya Pal Malik (HT File)

Terming Bihar as repository of skill and agriculture under Nitish Kumar, Malik said the chief ministers of other states should follow the development model enacted by their Bihar counterpart.

“Nitish Kumar (Bihar CM) has zero tolerance to crime. Top criminals and Mafiosi have been eliminated by his government. Nitish does not tolerate even a leader involved in any crime. His track record speaks for itself,” Malik said at Raj Bhawan here.

The Governor was replying to a query about his reported remarks that J&K is like any other state and Patna records more murders a day than J&K does.

“My comment was projected in wrong sense. It was wrong. My point was that most of the big cities in eastern India have crime rates due to personal rivalries. It is not so in Kashmir,” he said.

Malik said no chief minister or any government functionary can be held responsible for crimes committed out of rivalries. “Bihar has the honour to have such a CM from whom the rest of chief ministers should take lessons. He has zero tolerance to crime,” he said.

Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah had also taken a dig at Governor Malik over his reported remarks.

“To say Jammu and Kashmir is like any other state is wrong. If this governor, who has been Bihar’s governor earlier, says it, Nitish Kumar has to clarify,” Omar had said.

Governor Malik said Nitish Kumar was an honest and upright leader in his personal life, and even if there had been some crimes in Patna, the investigation, disposal and prosecution rates under Nitish Kumar government had been quick and exemplary.

“Nitish Kumar is committed to delivery of justice. He is always proactive in punishing the guilty,” Malik said.

The governor said Bihar’s crime graph before the Nitish rule was worst.

Lauding Bihar CM’s steps in education, skill development and agriculture sectors, Malik said most of the 100 colleges of (political) leaders were centralised by him and Nitish Kumar fully supported him for it. “Nitish was out to bring a change in the education sector in Bihar which has emerged as an example in skill management. We want to replicate this model of skill management and education in Jammu and Kashmir to generate jobs and skilled manpower,” Malik said.

He said Nitish Kumar has launched a new agricultural development road map in Bihar.

“Once it is fully implemented, it will usher an era of third agriculture revolution, which will start from Bihar,” the governor said.