Nitish govt accused of gifting land to politicians

If you happen to be kin of the ruling party's member of legislative assembly and member of Parliament of the ruling Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, it is possible that you can avail of a large government plot at near-throwaway prices, the opposition has alleged.

Contrary to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's claims of sushasan (good-governance) and declaration of war against corruption in Bihar, the state government has virtually gifted large plots of government land to sons, daughters and close relatives of ministers, MPs and MLAs of the ruling party alliance, the opposition has alleged.

This has come to light after the opposition brought the issue in the state assembly on Tuesday, much to Kumar's embarrassment, as the opposition demanded his resignation and directly blamed him for the alleged illegal allotments.

The Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority, a government body, allots land for industrial units as per rules and tenders.

But in this case, it seems that the state government has allotted several BIADA plots to sons and daughters of ruling party MLAs, including ministers without inviting proper tenders.

According to the BIADA website, Bihar Human Resources Development Minister P K Shahi's daughter has been allotted 87,120 sq ft, while JD-U MLA Jagdish Sharma's son has been allotted 15,500 sq ft.

Similarly, Social Welfare Minister Perveen Amanullah and senior Indian Administrative Service officer Afzal Amanullah's daughter has also been allotted 87,120 sq ft.

Leader of opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui, "We will expose Nitish Kumar's tall claims of good governance and a corruption-free government," he said.

Even BJP MLAs sons and daughters have been allotted BIADA land.Among the beneficiaries from BJP is former MLA Awdhesh Narayan Singh's son, who has been allotted 2,17,800 sq ft. Another BJP member of legislative council Ashok Agarwal's son Saurabh was also allotted large BIADA plots.

Bihar Nav Nirman Manch, a new political outfit of JD-U rebels, who are critics of Nitish Kumar's style of functioning, plans to launch a campaign over the issue.

"We will take this issue to the people of Bihar," Manch's spokesperson Satya Narain Madan said.