File Photo of BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.
Days after an under-construction bridge collapsed in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today referred to the incident to train his guns on the "corruption-tainted" JD(U) government.
"The collapse of an under-construction bridge should not be seen as an isolated incident, but must be treated as a breach of people's faith in the JD(U) regime which is steeped "neck deep" in corruption," he said in a statement.
Expressing anguish over the state government's "casual attitude" to treat the bridge collapse as routine, Mr Modi slammed the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) for giving a clean chit to the contractor within 24 hours after the collapse.
The BRPNN officials were so desperate to cover up the "massive corruption" in the construction of the bridge, that they blamed the rivers - Bagmati and Lakhandei - on which it was built, the former deputy chief minister said.
Mr Modi also said that Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has himself publicly acknowledged the prevalence of corruption in the state by admitting that his son paid a bribe of Rs 5,000 to get an inflated electricity bill rectified by officials of the electricity department.
Citing other examples of corruption, he said that a scam worth Rs 100 crore has surfaced in the health department in which medicines were purchased at thrice the market price when former chief minister Nitish Kumar was heading the department. However the state government has been reluctant to recommend a CBI probe as people close to Mr Kumar are allegedly involved in the said scam, he added.
Mr Modi urged the state to take cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that neither will he indulge in corrupt practices nor will he allow others to do so.