Bihar BJP appeared to be divided over the condition of flood relief camps set up by the Nitish Kumar government with party MP Shatrughan Sinha hailing them and senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleging that "anarchy" prevailed in them.
Bollywood actor and Patna Sahib MP Sinha, after a visit to the camps in Bhakhtiyarpur area of Patna district yesterday, had lauded their functioning and praised his "friend" Nitish.
He had told reporters that relief operations were being carried out well by the administration and lauded the Chief Minister saying he had done an "excellent work" for the marooned people.
But, Modi differed sharply.
"He (Sinha) might have seen good conditions at the camps he visited but I have been going to the camps in different areas for the past 9-10 days and I have found that anarchy prevailed in them," he told reporters.
The state government had promised to provide five kg rice, two kg potato and one kg pulse to the flood victims but none of that was visible in the majority of the camps, Modi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council, alleged, adding that there was gross non-availability of fodder for the animals in the inundated areas.
On the other hand, Sinha told PTI that he narrated what he saw and experienced at the relief camps.
"I do not believe in mixing politics at times of human tragedies and natural calamities...Everybody must follow the path of consensus in this hour of grief instead of confrontation," Sinha, popularly known as 'Bihari Babu', said without naming Modi.
Sinha has been singing a different tune than that of the BJP ever since the Bihar Assembly polls last year in which he was ignored by the party.
His praise of the state government and the Chief Minister provided ammunition to the ruling JD(U) in the state to fire salvo at the saffron party and its state leaders.
JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh lauded Sinha for "speaking the truth unlike Sushil Modi who always sees politics even in a human tragedy".
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
