India News | Chirag Joins Oppn in Attacking Bihar Govt on Road Collapse
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Lok Janshakti Party on Thursday joined the opposition in attacking the Bihar government over the collapse of a road in floods, saying it raises questions on the claim of "zero corruption" and demands action against the "guilty".
New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) The Lok Janshakti Party on Thursday joined the opposition in attacking the Bihar government over the collapse of a road in floods, saying it raises questions on the claim of "zero corruption" and demands action against the "guilty".
The state government has insisted that it is an approach road to a new bridge connecting Gopalganj to East Champaran which has been washed away, and not the bridge itself as alleged by opposition leaders like Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav.
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In a tweet, LJP president Chirag Paswan targeted the Bihar government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
"Part of a bridge built at the cost of Rs 264 crore has collapsed today. Any work done with public money should be carried out maintaining quality standards. Incidents like this raise questions in the public eye over zero corruption. The LJP demands a high-level probe to punish the guilty quickly," he said.
His tweet is seen as yet another instance of Paswan criticising Kumar's government in which the BJP is a partner.
Though the LJP is a Bharatiya Janata Party ally, it is not part of the Bihar government led by Janata Dal (United) chief Kumar.
Sharing an image of the caved-in portion of the road on his Twitter handle, leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav demanded resignation of Kumar, who had inaugurated the Sattarghat bridge on June 16.
The Bihar government, however, quickly came out with a clarification that it was not the bridge itself that had collapsed.
The state's Road Construction Department issued a statement, saying the caved-in portion of the road was situated "two kilometres away from the bridge" and that it was the approach route for an 18-metre-long causeway that leads to the Sattarghat bridge.
Incidentally, the department is a part of the ministerial portfolio of senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav in the state government.
While Paswan has been taking swipes at Kumar, he has mostly refrained from targeting the BJP.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)