The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the lead constituent of the ruling alliance in Bihar, was in for embarrassment on the first day of the state legislature’s budget session on Monday when its rebel MLA and former minister Sudhakar Singh once again attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar, saying he has failed on every front and should “relinquish his chair”.
Singh, son of RJD’s state unit president Jagdanand Singh, was talking to reporters on assembly premises before the start of budget session.
“He has no vision. Entire Bihar knows he has failed on all fronts. He is not in favour of restoring agriculture mandis (marketing yards). He doesn’t want to improve the education scenario. All development works under his rule were on paper only. He only wants to hold his chair. The state has been pushed back on development parameters,” said Sudhakar Singh, who had to quit as agriculture minister last year after a brief stint of nearly two months following his repeated attacks on the chief minister.
“Nitish Kumar should be removed from the post of CM. Law and order has broken down. Big crime incidents are taking place in the state. There is prohibition and people are dying of poisonous liquor in Bihar,” he said.
A visibly rattled deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said action would be taken against Singh. “If he is deliberately giving such statements, it means he is acting at somebody’s behest. Such statements are not good. Out party’s national president (his father Lalu Prasad) will soon take a call,” said Yadav.
On Sunday evening, Sudhakar Singh had said he would welcome President’s rule in the country rather than have Nitish Kumar as the Prime Minister. He was addressing a big gathering of farmers in Kaimur in presence of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait
“At a time when farmers, the poor and workers are facing their worst crisis, he (Nitish Kumar) has procured a ₹350-crore aircraft to further his prime ministerial ambitions. The money could have benefitted farmers,” he had said.
Earlier, Singh was served a show cause notice by RJD, to which he replied last week, but no action was taken.
Meanwhile, CM Kumar’s party JD-U reacted sharply to Singh’s remark.
JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, “We don’t take notice of RJD MLA who is a 420 (an accused in a cheating case) and has been jailed in paddy milling scam.”
