Lalu hopes fall of Nitish govt following internal bickerings

Biharsharif, July 14 (UNI) Railway Minister and RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad today observed that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar would soon collapse in the wake of its ''internal squablings''.

Inaugurating a two-day training camp of party workers at Rajgir near here, Mr Prasad said the recent ''revolt'' of some ruling party MLAs before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had exposed the internal wranglings within the ruling NDA alliance, indicating that the ''process of downfall of the government had already begun''.

Branding Mr Kumar as a ''Chief Minister by accident,'' the RJD chief said the ''bubble'' of the NDA government would soon burst and called upon his party workers to expose ''failures'' of the state government even in far-flung areas of the state.

Pointing his finger at the alleged deteriorating law and order and the spurt in criminal activities in Bihar, Mr Prasad squarely blamed the state government for ''miserably failing'' to improve the situation.

''The NDA government is misleading the people and playing into the hands of bureaucrats despite the steady rise in kidnapping, loot and murder in the state, thereby creating a sense of insecurity among the common people,'' the RJD chief said.

Coming down heavily on the ''bureaucratic raj,'' he alleged that they were running the government in an almost dictatorial manner, having scant respect for peoples' representatives.

''However, we are committed to our policies of secularism and social justice,'' he claimed.

Referring to the implementation of centrally sponsored welfare schemes in the state, the Railway Minister alleged that the performance of the Nitish Kumar government was poor on this front too, as it failed to utilise the entire funds.

He claimed that the RJD was committed to creating a society on the basis of ideology of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar who had struggled for the rights of the underprivileged.

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and former chief minister Rabri Devi also severely criticised the Nitish Kumar government and said it was ''playing with fire without being aware of its destructive power.'' She alleged that the Chief Minister was doing nothing to prevent corruption in the execution of various welfare schemes.

UNI