Amidst Growing Criticism, Nitish Lashes Out at his Political Opponents
Patna: June 2, 2006
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Thursday, fired back at his political opponents who had been accusing him of mis-governance saying it was their problem if they couldn't see all the steps taken by his government in a short period of six months to put Bihar back on the path of development.
"It will take a long time to list all the measures we have taken to remove the legacy of the previous government but if your views are tainted, you can't see them and that's your fault, not ours," said Kumar.
The Chief Minister talked about his efforts to attract investment in the state, to improve power situation and road conditions in Bihar. "Our critics say the crime has gone up since the NDA came into power six months ago. What they are not talking about is how many hard core criminals we have been able to nab in such a short span and how many have been convicted and jailed by our fast track courts," he said.
"It is ironical that all those who are accusing us of not doing anything are the same people who have put Bihar in this predicament in the first place," the Janata Dal (U) leader said.
Earlier in the day, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Railway Minister taunted Kumar of building sand castles with 'nothing to show off'. "Nitish Kumar is talking about turning Patna's ghats into Marine Drive but all they are doing is renovating their own houses. Some are busy getting new tiles for their bathrooms while others are busy constructing swimming pools in their government bungalows," Yadav said.
"On one hand, the Chief Minister claims himself to be a secular leader; on the other he is dependent on a communal party like Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for the survival of his government," the former Chief Minister of Bihar said.
Other opposition leaders including Congress president Sadanand Singh, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan, and Communist Party of India (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also took a dig at the Chief Minister accusing him of giving a free hand to the criminals and ignoring the interests of the poor and backwards.
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