"Living Example Of Corruption In Bihar": Union Minister On Bridge Collapse

Union minister for power and renewable energy RK Singh on Monday hit out at Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar after an under-construction four-lane bridge over the Ganga river collapsed in Bihar's Bhagalpur, for the second time in a year, and said that the incident is a clear example of high corruption in the state.

The under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur collapsed on Sunday. The moment when the bridge collapsed in the Ganga River was also caught on video by locals.

"It is a living example of corruption, and such a big bridge worth Rs 1717 crore collapsed like cards in the Ganga river. This type of incident has definitely involvement of leaders, contractors and connivance of all. If the government had strictly investigated, then this would not have happened," Union Minister RK Singh said while speaking to ANI.

"Nitish Kumar has no answer for this. People say that he is 'Sushasan Babu', but this is not good governance. This is an example of corruption, and it is not like this in any other state of the country," he added.

The Union Minister further said, "If the bridge worth approximately 2000 crore gets destroyed, then the public must understand that if you vote for corrupt people, this will happen. If you vote for corrupt people in the name of caste, then bridges will collapse."

Further hitting out at Nitish Kumar and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Singh said they should resign on moral responsibility, why aren't they doing it?

"They (Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav )should also resign. Should he not go and resign and say that it is our moral responsibility? Why Nitish Kumar is not doing it? Tejashwi should also resign because he is a minister," Singh said.

Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone of the bridge in 2014 connecting Sultanganj and Khagaria.

Meanwhile, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that the construction was incorrect due to which the bridge collapsed repeatedly.

"The bridge that collapsed yesterday had collapsed last year also. I have instructed officials to take strict action. It is not being constructed correctly that's why it is collapsing again and again. The department will look into it and action will be taken," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)