Public grief gave way to outrage as angry people raised slogans against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday when he visited a hospital in Muzaffarpur district, where over 100 children had died so far due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES).
Kumar, who was away in New Delhi since Saturday, had returned to Patna on Monday evening and held an emergency review meeting on the AES situation with officials.
On Tuesday morning, the chief minister rushed to the Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur, where more than 300 children have been admitted with complaints of AES since June 1 and close to 90 of them died.
Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi and local MLA Suresh Sharma went inside the ICU to meet the patients before holding an impromptu review meeting with the hospital authorities and other state Health Department officials.
In the meantime, scores of people gathered outside the hospital and started shouting slogans like "Nitish Kumar go back", as they vented their anger over the chief minister for visiting the area after the number of casualties had crossed the three-digit mark.
Speaking to journalists, they pointed out to a water tanker. "This is today's development. Things are being spruced up so that it makes a favourable impression on the chief minister," one of the protesters said. "Had the CM visited earlier, it would have made the officials concerned pull up their socks and many lives could have been saved."