Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Nitish more corrupt than Lalu, say Cong leaders

Nitish more corrupt than Lalu, say Cong leaders

PATNA: Senior Congress leaders, including AICC general secretary and in-charge of party affairs of Bihar Mukul Wasnik, on Sunday described chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar as more corrupt than former CM and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad at a Milan Samaroh organized by the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC).

The Congress leaders also criticized the BJP for continuing its alliance with the JD(U) even as Nitish humiliated their national-level leaders, including national president Nitin Gadkari, Lal Krishna Advani and Sushma Swaraj, by cancelling the dinner, which he had thrown for them.

Former excise minister Jamshed Ashraf and former MLA and NCP leader Aquil Haider joined the Congress on the occasion. Several others, including four doctors and a Patna High Court advocate, also joined the party.

Wasnik said that in the past 20 years, the equation of politics in Bihar has changed. "The politicians are not doing politics of development. People of the state rejected RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who is known for Chara Ghotala," he said and added that Nitish has left Lalu behind if corrupt practices in the present government is taken into account.

"When the then excise minister Jamshed Ashraf complained to CM about corrupt practices in the department, the CM sacked him," Wasnik said. He also lashed out at the NDA government for spreading canards that the Centre was not providing funds to the state. "Nitish should remember that when he was a Union minister in the NDA regime, the state got only Rs 3,000 crore. The Congress-led UPA government has released Rs 19,000 crore in the past four years to Bihar," Wasnik claimed.

Union minister for minority welfare Salman Khurshid said that he was surprised at CM’s reaction on Union ministers’ frequent visits to Bihar. "Why is the CM afraid of our visit?" he wondered. "If CM Nitish Kumar has carried out development works, he should have invited the Union ministers and showed it to them," Khurshid quipped. He outrightly rejected the CM’s statement that the Centre was not providing funds for madrasas of the state. BPCC president Mehboob Al Quaiser said that the Congress believed in people having clean image.

Ashraf said that he felt like as though he was coming back to his home. He rubbished Nitish government’s growth data. "The state has no industrial unit and people here are talking of growth rate," he said. He also criticized Nitish for not sending any Muslim leader to the Rajya Sabha. "The chief minister instead sent his principal secretary to the Rajya Sabha," he said.

AICC secretary Sagar Raika, AICC minority cell chairman Imran Kidwai and CLP leader Dr Ashok Kumar were prominent among those addressing the function.

Author: Alok Mishra

Source:
The Times of India

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