Patna blasts: Congress, BJP blame Bihar govt, say intel inputs were sent

New Delhi/Patna: A blame game erupted today over the Patna serial blasts with the BJP accusing Bihar government’s vote bank politics for security lapses despite a specific intelligence input on Narendra Modi’s rally, a charge stoutly denied by the state. The Congress said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should be held accountable while Bihar’s ruling JD(U) said unnecessary politics should not be played over yesterday’s explosions at Modi’s rally venue and at the railway station that claimed six innocent lives. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley laid the blame squarely on the Bihar government, claiming an intelligence alert specific enough to mention IM modules could organize attacks during Modi’s Patna visit was sent to Bihar government four days before his mega rally. [caption id=“attachment_1199227” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An injured being carried by a police officer. PTI[/caption] Jaitley said vote bank politics prevented the government from acting in time leading to loss of lives. As his administration came under attack for alleged security lapses at Modi’s ‘Hunkar"(battle cry) rally, Nitish said he has asked his officers to look into the claim by Jaitley that a specific alert was sent to Bihar police by Intelligence Bureau(IB) with regard to the rally. Refuting claims of Bihar government that there were no alerts issued by the Centre about the rally, Jaitley said “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.” “This alert was specific enough to mention that the IM modules could organize strikes during Narendra Modi’s Patna visit. A reference to the arrest of Bhatkal, an information emanating from another source was also mentioned,” Jaitley told reporters in Delhi. Bihar police denied that there was a specific intelligence alert by central agencies about terror threat to the ‘Hunkar Rally’ and its prime ministerial candidate. “There was no specific intelligence input about terror threat to BJP’s Hunkar Rally yesterday and Narendra Modi in particular during his Bihar visit,” Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Headquarters, Ravindra Kumar told reporters in Patna. Congress Spokesman PC Chacko said it should be the responsible of a Chief Minister to ensure safety of visiting senior political leaders. Chacko’s party colleague Digvijay Singh also endorsed his views. JD(U) leader Sabir Ali said this was not the time to discuss who is at fault and who is to be blamed. The first job is to track those who were behind the blasts and to take steps to prevent their recurrence. PTI