Bodh Gaya blasts: BJP's Rajnath Singh goes soft on Nitish Kumar, attacks Centre

Bodh Gaya: BJP president Rajnath Singh today disappointed those who had expected a sharp attack on former ally Nitish Kumar for failing to secure the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya, the site of multiple blasts on Sunday.

Mr Singh, who led a team of senior leaders on a visit to the heritage site this morning, refused to get drawn into criticising the Bihar Chief Minister, training his gun instead on the Congress-led UPA government the Centre for failing to check terror attacks.

He demanded  a "comprehensive action plan so that any kind of terror attack, biological, chemical or cyber, can be countered,"

Repeatedly asked if he blamed the state government for failing to act on intelligence inputs on a possible attack on the temple, Mr Singh merely said, "No state can act against terror by itself, the Centre must help." 

Till last month, the BJP partnered Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) in governing Bihar. Nitish Kumar dumped his ally of 15 years in June, also dismissing all 11 BJP ministers and leaving the Bihar unit of the BJP enraged.

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After the blasts at the temple, Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had hit out at Mr Kumar for what he called the deteriorating law and order in the state. The BJP had called a bandh in the Magadh region, where the temple is located.

The Bihar Chief Minister countered that criticism by accusing his former ally of politicising the terror attack in collusion with his arch rival in Bihar, the RJD's Lalu Prasad, who too called a bandh in the region.

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The Congress, which sees in the BJP-JD(U) divorce a chance to kindle new alliances, has been circumspect. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh did not make much of the Bihar government's obvious slip in providing adequate security at the temple, but chose to criticise the BJP instead for its political attack on Mr Kumar.

Rajnath Singh refused to comment on that. 

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Very early on Sunday morning, there were ten synchronised blasts in different parts of the temple. Two monks were injured. Investigators later found three unexploded bombs, one even placed 20 feet high on a Buddha statue.

Investigators have not found any concrete leads yet, and are analysing CCTV footage. A man has been detained and he is being questioned.  The temple complex reopened last evening and special prayers were held.