Nitish Kumar must explain security lapse, Patna blasts: BJP

BJP on Monday took a swipe at Nitish Kumar, who presented the annual performance report of Bihar government in Patna, saying the Chief Minister should have also highlighted its alleged failure to combat terror attacks and sudden spate in Maoist activities in the state. In a statement issued in Patna, former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that law and order situation in the state had collapsed after JD(U) severed ties with his party. [caption id=“attachment_1249513” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nitish Kumar. Reuters[/caption] He said the chief minister should have apprised the people about security lapses which triggered terror attacks in Bodh Gaya and Patna and a sudden spate in Maoist activities in the state in the past few months. “Is it not a fact that the Maoist activities have risen by 41 per cent in Bihar even as other states have seen a decline in such incidents?” he said. The BJP leader claimed that Kumar showed “soft attitude and indifference towards dealing firmly with terrorists and subversive elements” which led to serial blasts in Bodh Gaya and Patna this year. “It has been due to the JD(U) government’s failure to pay heed to the intelligence alerts that the serial blasts in Bodh Gaya took place in July this year leading to sharp dip in flow of foreign tourists to the temple town,” Modi said. The state government’s major achievements like upgradation and modernisation of Kanti Thermal Power Plant, construction of Bihar Museum, Bettiah medical college and proposed construction of elevated road on the river Ganga in Patna were conceived during the NDA rule and so Kumar should be magnanimous in sharing credit with his former ally, he said. Modi said the chief minister should have released two reports consisting seven months’ of NDA rule and five months of the JD(U) rule, but he did not do so as his government has nothing positive to drive home. PTI