Congress refrains from attacking Nitish

Amid changed political equations after the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) walked out of he National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Congress on Wednesday refrained from any direct attack on the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar over the mid-day meal deaths, while the opposition BJP criticised the ruling dispensation.

Apart from demanding stringent action against the culprits, the Congress said that opposition parties should refrain from playing politics over the issue. “The Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD's) reaction on the painful mid-day meal poisoning incidents in Bihar is on the expected lines, but BJP leaders are behaving as if they were waiting for some mishap,” party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed commented on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

“This is not time to play politics on the tragic incident... Why did the BJP not react in such a manner earlier, when a number of people were killed during a stampede during Chhat festival in Patna?” asked Ahmed.  Party spokesperson Raj Babbar, speaking from the AICC podium, also appeared in agreement with the Bihar government, which suspected a conspiracy behind the tragedy. “This is one of the most important schemes of the “Central government, and if there is any conspiracy to weaken it, the Central government will not be found wanting in taking steps,” said Babbar.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar condoled the death of school children after the consumption of the mid-day meal given to them in Bihar’s Saran district. She called for an in-depth inquiry into the matter and strict action against those found guilty.
Attacking the Nitish-led government over the handling of the tragedy, the BJP said this depicted how the ruling government was losing its grip over administration.
“These days Nitish was busy in politics. He doesn’t have time to concentrate on administration,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.

Had local administration acted quickly to shift the students to a better hospital, many lives would have been saved, he said.