Union Minister RK Singh says will slit throats if contractors are found corrupt
While talking of development projects in Bihar, union power minister RK Singh has been heard saying he would "slit the throats" of corrupt contractors. The Central power projects, the minister told an audience in his constituency, Arrah, will be executed properly. "If anyone indulges in any irregularity, will slit his throat, file case against him and throw him into jail," a video of the speech showed the former bureaucrat known for his honesty, saying.
The government is building several community centres under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development or MPLAD scheme in Arrah. The BJP rules the state jointly with Nitish Kumar, who ditched Lalu Yadav and the Congress last year to form a new government in partnership with the BJP. Two months before the state assembly elections in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated development projects worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore in Arrah, saying it would "change the face of Bihar".
On Saturday Mr Singh - a career bureaucrat who joined politics in 2013 - said, "Projects must be such that maximum people benefit from it...Tenders must be based on expertise and it should follow quality construction work". The 64-year-old had followed it up with the threats on corruption, a key issue for the BJP in Bihar, where it had repeatedly accused former Chief Minister and Nitish Kumar's Grand Alliance partner Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Mr Singh had earlier been told off by senior BJP leaders after the party's poor show in Bihar in 2015, when he had blamed faulty ticket distribution. On another occasion, he had faced criticism after he welcomed a joint statement by party veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in which they criticised the top leadership in 2015.
"It is a challenge for me but I am used to challenges. The party and the prime minister have shown confidence in me and I am thankful to them," he had said reporters at the time.