Nitish Kumar: From hero of good governance to a villain

It was not very long ago when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was on cloud nine when awards for good governance came falling his way, literally

Advertisement

While the national media handed him several awards followed by international media presented him as one of the emerging powerful politicians in the country in recent years. The entire situation has now undergone a complete change now. The politician who once earned praises for his good initiatives which pulled Bihar out of morass of “lawlessness and backwardness” is now under fire for his failure to put things rights in his state. This can be gauged form the fact that the complaints against his administrative failures have now reached the Supreme Court. At presently, the Supreme Court is monitoring the investigation into at least three cases related to Bihar which include the murder of a Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, Muzaffarpur sex scandal involving gross sexual abuse of at least 34 girls lodged at a government-funded shelter home while the deaths of children from suspected encephalitis in Muzaffarpur has also reached the apex court. This has only exposed the state of prevailing situation in Bihar under Kumar

The Nitish Kumar government first came under fire when the Siwan journalist was killed in cold blood allegedly by the henchmen of former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin in May 2016.

The chief minister again came under question when the alleged sexual abuse of girls lodged at a Muzaffarpur based care home came to light last year and this case too has been shifted to a court in Delhi. Not only that, the Supreme Court also sifted the main accused Brajesh Thakur to the jail outside Bihar.

The state government has again came under criticisms for failing to launch preventive measures to stop death of children from suspected encephalitis in Muzaffarpur, and hence the very case too has now reached the Supreme Court.

While expressing “grave concern” over deaths of more than 100 children in Muzaffarpur due to outbreak of suspected encephalitis, the Supreme Court today directed the centre and the state government to file their response on medical care facilities within a week. The court issued the order on a PIL filed by a lawyer who in his petition alleged hundreds of children are losing their lives every year, nothing has been done to prevent the disease. While expressing “grave concern” over deaths of more than 100 children in Muzaffarpur due to outbreak of suspected encephalitis, the Supreme Court today directed the centre and the state government to file their response on medical care facilities within a week. The court issued the order on a PIL filed by a lawyer who in his petition alleged hundreds of children are losing their lives every year, nothing has been done to prevent the disease.