No golden pass issued by Lalu: Nitish

Raking up the Railway pass issue, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he had not received any golden pass when RJD chief Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister.

Raking up the Railway pass issue, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he had not received any golden pass when RJD chief Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister.

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Kumar, who had preceded Prasad at the Rail Bhavan, said he came to know of golden passes issued to former Railway ministers, allowing them to travel in AC first class along with three persons, through media reports.

He was reacting to Prasad's comments that he (Prasad) had taken the decision to issue golden passes for former and present Railway ministers in consultation with Railway Board officials after a proposal came to him.

"I strongly defend Mamataji for cancelling the facility (golden pass) to former Railway ministers," he said.

Describing as "farce" Prasad's call for Bihar bandh on January 28 to protest against price rise, Kumar said being an ally of the UPA at the Centre he could not escape the responsibility.

"Prasad's call for state-wide bandh against skyrocketing prices of essential commodities is nothing but a farce... He has no moral right to talk on the issue," Kumar told reporters here.

Prasad is part and parcel of the government at the Centre as he had given a letter of support to UPA-II. He should first withdraw support to it and then talk on the problem.

Not only RJD, all other constituents of the UPA-II at the Centre are responsible for the problem, he added.