Oppn slams Bihar govt as guns fail at ex-CMs funeral

Opposition parties in Bihar on Thursday took a dig at the Nitish Kumar government over the embarrassing incident during former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra's funeral when guns carried by police personnel for salute failed to fire a single shot.

The spectacle took place on Wednesday at Mishra's ancestral village Balua Bazar in Supaul district, where the Chief Minister was himself present.

Video clips beamed by news channels showed a senior official frantically testing guns of a couple of personnel before giving up helplessly. The police headquarters here has, meanwhile, taken a strong note of the incident and sought an explanation from the Supaul police.

However, the occasion provided the opposition with fresh ammunition to train its guns at the ruling dispensation, which takes pride in its claim of having brought rule of law to a state after over a decade of alleged lawlessness. When the guns of the police fail at a ceremonial function where the Chief Minister is in attendance, can these be expected to be of any use while chasing criminals?

It is a testimony to the fact that Nitish Kumar has no control of law and order, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha said in a statement.

Congress MLC- Prem Chandra Mishra- echoed similar sentiments on Twitter, saying when the Bihar police lacks the capability to fire gunshots during a guard of honour, would it not boost the morale of criminals. Not a single gunshot was fired when there should have been 21.

What type of honour did you accord to the late Jagannath Mishra @Nitish Kumar. RJD Rajya Sabha member and Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti also sought to have some fun as she shared a news clipping of the fiasco that has left the government headed by her fathers arch rival red-faced on her twitter handle without adding any comment.