Union minister's 'slit throat' comment draws ire

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Power R K Singh kicked up a row after he threatened contractors and officials that he would slit the throats of wrongdoers.

"Gala kat denge, case kar denge aur phir jail mein daal denge (Will slit the throat of the wrongdoer, lodge a case against him and put him behind bars)," the bureaucrat-turned-politician told a crowd at Arrah.

Arrah is Singh's Lok Sabha constituency, from where he has represented the BJP since 2014.

Singh, who was inducted into the prime minister's  team as MoS with independent charge in 2017, was taking stock of the development projects under the local area development schemes in Arrah on Saturday when he made the controversial remarks.

Singh said development works should be done in such a way that it benefits the maximum number of people.

"Tender process should be transparent, followed by quality construction work," the minister said.

Senior officials of the National Thermal Power Corporation and the power ministry were also present at the event.

Pulls no punches

Not  one  to mince his words, Singh had lashed out at Nitish in 2014 on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh had charged the  Bihar chief minister  with indulging in "malpractices through transfer and posting of key officers".

During the 2015 Assembly polls, he had charged senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi with "making money in the name of ticket distribution".

Incidentally, Singh had served under Nitish and Sushil when he was posted as principal secretary (road construction) in Bihar.

He is credited with laying smooth roads across the state, which was earlier infamous for its potholed roads.

Singh has also served as Union home secretary under P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde during the UPA-II regime.