Manmohan Singh govt lost confidence of the people:Nitish

Patna,Jul 24(UNI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the UPA government had lost the people's confidence though it had managed to secure that of the Lok Sabha through "unscrupulous" means.

He told reporters in his chamber at the Assembly premises that he was aware of the rebellious stand of two of his party MPs--Ram Swaroop Prasad and P P Koya--and it was no surprise that they voted in favour of the Manmohan Singh government during the confidence motion discarding the party line,the senior JD(U) leader added.

Both the leaders had their own compulsions to take such decisions, he observed.

''Although, the UPA government had managed to secure the required numbers to get through the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, the means and ways adopted by the Congress had put the Manmohan Singh government in the dock,'' Mr Kumar remarked.

The UPA government no longer enjoyed the confidence of the people and it was sure to bite the dust in the next elections, he added.

The chief minister said the Centre had blocked the investment to the tune of Rs 20,000 crores by big industrial houses in Bihar by denying permission to establish units for production of ethanol from sugar cane in the state.

On the BPL issues, he said the Centre had refused to grant quota of ration and kerosene to 23 lakh people living below the poverty line.The Centre was not taking the demographic data into consideration which was collected during the 2001 census, he added.

Mr Kumar expressed his strong opposition to the proposed Indo-US nuclear deal saying it was against the interest of the nation as India was capable of meeting its energy requirements through ethanol and Bihar had great potential for its production, if permitted by the Centre.

''All these issues would be highlighted during the coming Lok Sabha elections and the people would give a befitting reply to the UPA leaders during the electoral battle,'' he said.

Mr Kumar claimed that the state government would evolve a permanent solution to the water logging menace plaguing capital Patna and other cities. A directive had been issued to concerned departments to prepare an action plan in this regard, he added.

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