Taking a potshot at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not visiting the children who are admitted in the hospital and the parents of those who died due to Chhapra mid-day meal food poisoning incident, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Sunday said the former is not just the Chief Minister of his party but he is responsible for the entire state.
"The BJP wants to know who is running the state if the Chief Minister is not able to visit the children in the hospital merely a kilometer away? I am sure he must have given the charge of the state to some other minister in his party. They don't have a deputy chief minister but there are many veteran leaders in his party like Narendra Singh, Vijay Chaudhary and Vijendra Yadav. Has he given his power to veteran leaders to run the state?" he questioned.
He further said that the BJP is not politicizing this matter, but as an opposition they have the right to question the government.
"The BJP and the ten crore people of Bihar have the right to know what happened to the Chief Minister of Bihar. If he is unwell, we wish for his speedy recovery. But the people of Bihar should not be left helpless because he is not just the Chief Minister of his party but for the entire state," he added
About 23 children have died so far after eating a free mid-day meal at their school in Bihar's Chhapra district on July 16 and several others are undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.
A day after this incident, many kids took ill in Bihar's Madhubani district and had to be rushed to hospital when they complained of severe stomach cramps after eating the food served to them.
A high-level inquiry set up by the Bihar Government to probe the midday meal tragedy, has blamed the principal for it.