Patna: Union Ministers from Bihar today took exception to Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's remarks that they will not be allowed entry if they failed to bring in desired assistance for the state.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told reporters at the airport here that he hails from Bihar and would keep coming.
Rubbishing Manjhi's allegation of neglect of the state, Singh said, the Narendra Modi government was working for betterment of all states without any political consideration. Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha also strongly criticised Manjhi for his remarks.
“Bihar government is raising fingers at others to hide its own failure,” he told reporters at the airport, while describing Manjhi's assertions as “illogical”. Kushwaha, who is also the president of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), said it was well known that the state government failed to utilise money under various welfare schemes resulting in lapse of funds meant for the state's progress.
Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ram Kripal Yadav has already condemned Manjhi's remarks and said a person sitting on high constitutional post should not make “unconstitutional” statements.
Referring to the seven Union Ministers as “Saat Bhaiya” (seven brothers) at a function on November 19, Manjhi had asked to them to bring central assistance for the state, failing which they would be barred from entering Bihar.
Though the Chief Minister did not take any names, the seven Union Ministers are Radha Mohan Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Upendra Kushwaha, Ram Kripal Yadav and Giriraj Singh.
The Chief Minister's comment had not go down well with his own party, the JD(U), and party president Sharad Yadav had yesterday asked him to avoid making controversial statements.
