BJP MLAs not to hear replies on depts held by Nitish

, Feb 16: Seeking to haul up

for non-expansion of his council of ministers post-split last year, BJP today said its legislators would continue to not listen to replies by state ministers to questions meant for departments being held by the Chief Minister himself.

The BJP lawmakers will not listen to replies by the ministers during the ongoing budget session to questions related to departments being held by the Chief Minister himself, the Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly Nandkishore Yadav said in a statement.

If the ministers rise to reply to questions of the departments held by the Chief Minister in the house, the BJP members will not ask questions at all, he said.

The BJP lawmakers, in both houses of the state legislature, had resorted to similar tactics during the monsoon and winter sessions of the house last week. On this, the Chief Minister had said any minister can reply to questions related to departments held by any other colleague as under the provision of collective responsibility of the government of the day.

Claiming that at least six departments of the Nitish Kumar-government has spent only 30 per cent of the budgetary allocation for the fiscal year 2013-14, the BJP leader alleged that Kumar was only concerned with survival of his government and not with governance.

PTI