Lalu Surveys Flood Areas; Blasts Nitish

Patna: Aug. 24, 2008

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, at a press conference in Patna on Sunday after conducting an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in the Kosi region, blasted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for failing to take timely actions to minimize the impact of flood in North Bihar.

"There is complete devastation all around. Hundreds of people have either died or are missing and thousands of people have been displaced but the relief operation is so poor and inadequate that it might not as well exist," Yadav said.

The Railway Minister said that the Chief Minister knew about the severity of the situation but deliberately kept the Central ministry into dark to avoid criticism and to hide his own failure.

Central Water Resources Minister Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, former minister Jagadanand Singh, Shankar Prasad Tekriwal, and Shyam Rajak also surveyed the flooded areas along with the RJD chief.

Yadav said the Central government was willing to provide all necessary help to combat flooding situation in Bihar but Nitish Kumar will also have to make some efforts by shunning petty politics at a time like this.

The RJD chief also took the opportunity to criticize Kumar on the recent demand by the NDA leaders for the resignation of the Railway Minister on what he described as 'cooked up allegations' against him.

"This indicates Nitish Kumar is a vengeful person and is acting out of personal animosity towards me and my family members," the Railway Minister said.