Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party today blamed Gujarat, governed by Narendra Modi, for two major recent tragedies in the state.
"A conspiracy against Bihar is being hatched in Gujarat," said Manjit Singh, a state legislator from the Janata Dal-United or JD-U in the Bihar Assembly. His remarks came as a group of BJP legislators were shouting slogans that promise to deliver Mr Modi as Prime Minister.
Undeterred, Mr Kumar's party man expounded that a CBI investigation must examine his theory. "The timers used in Bodhgaya blasts were from Gujarat. The mid-day meal tragedy should also be probed for this Gujarat angle."
On July 7, 10 serial blasts took place early on a Saturday morning at the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar. On July 16, a poisoned free lunch at a school killed 23 children.
The chief minister and his party have heavily propagated a conspiracy theory, suggesting that the two disasters were engineered by political rivals bent on undermining Mr Kumar's government. Today's remarks in the state legislature are the latest expression of the JD-U's blunt campaign against the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Mr Kumar and his JD-U walked out on the BJP in June after a 17-year partnership because of its decision to place Mr Modi in charge of its national campaign. For months before the break-up, Mr Kumar had indulged in publicly recriminating the Gujarat Chief Minister without naming him.
Mr Kumar draws heavily on the support of Muslim voters in Bihar. Like other detractors of the Gujarat Chief minister, he blames Mr Modi for not doing enough to protect hundreds of Muslims who were killed in the 2002 riots in his home state.