Nitish Kumar Gave Appointment Letters To Officials Already Posted, Claims BJP

The BJP's Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council, Samrat Choudhary, on Wednesday attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his distribution of appointment letters in the state Panchayati Raj department.

Speaking to reporters in the state capital Patna on Wednesday, Mr Choudhary claimed that the panchayat secretaries to whom the chief minister distributed appointment letters on July 15 had already been posted.

The BJP leader further alleged that while 11,329 panchayat secretaries were recruited, only 3,500 were given appointment letters.

"Tejashwi Yadav (deputy chief minister) lied on his birthday. The panchayat secretaries, who were posted on July 15, were handed appointment letters again. The Block Panchayati Raj Officer (BPRO) was reinstated on August 3 and our government (BJP-RJD government) fell on August 9," the BJP leader claimed.

He further alleged that the chief minister no longer wields the same power as CM as he did during the previous government. Further, without taking any name, he said that Nitish Kumar was being remote-controlled by Tejashwi and was taking his orders from the 'Super CM'. "Nitish Kumar does not have the same powers as the chief minister. He is sitting on the lap of a super CM," he said.

Mr Choudhary added that it was during the previous regime of the BJP-JDU that the process of making more than 1 lakh appointments was set in motion. "However, it is only now that the appointment letters are being distributed. The government of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav is telling a bunch of lies.

Claiming that the bromance and bonhomie between the 'uncle' (Nitish) and 'nephew' (Tejashwi) were just playing to the gallery as there is trouble within, the BJP leader claimed, "Nitish Kumar is trying to latch onto Tejashwi's coat-tails as if he is trying to run away."

Also lashing out at the government on the reservation issue, Mr Choudhary claimed that the state government is opposed to reservation for upper castes as well as Muslims.

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