Patna: The BJP today took exception to
restoration of Amir Subhani to the post of Principal Secretary
(Home) alleging that he had failed to deal with law and order
situation during Nitish Kumar's earlier five-year stint as CM
which was marred by serial blasts in Bodh Gaya and Patna among
a host of other major incidents.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that Kumar
restored him though serial blasts at Bodh Gaya and Patna and
the death of 33 people in stampede here last year occurred
when Subhani was in that post.
“How come there can be improvement on law and order front
under stewardship of an official whose previous tenure had
seen rapid spurt in crime?” Modi asked in a statement.
Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had removed
Subhani from the post of Principal Secretary (Home) three
months ago and replaced him with a Dalit bureaucrat Sudhir
Kumar, a decision with which Nitish Kumar was reportedly
unhappy.
The senior IAS official's continuation as the Principal
Secretary (Home) had evoked sharp reaction from the BJP
earlier too but JD(U) came to the rescue of the bureaucrat
charging the saffron party with victimizing the official on
religious ground.
The Chief Minister had effected a major administrative
reshuffle yesterday restoring a number of senior bureaucrats,
including Subhani, to key posts they had held earlier before
being shunted out by Manjhi.
Modi also questioned the timing of the administrative
reshuffle and wanted to know whether it was done on the basis
of merit or considering the ‘help they will render' to the
ruling JD(U) during the Assembly polls due later this year.
