States not ruled by BJP got unfair treatment by media: Nitish

Making a reference to Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat on Friday (December 16) inside the Bihar Assembly, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar alleged that states not ruled by BJP got an unfair portrayal in the media.

The JD(U) leader, who is rooting for “Opposition unity” for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, was intervening after an MLA from the CPI(M), which supports the Mahagathbandhan government from outside, said family members of the victims who have died in the Saran hooch tragedy should get some compensation.

Rejecting the suggestion with a display of righteous anger, the CM said that would amount to supporting a vice like drinking alcohol and would go against the spirit of the prohibition law. Visibly upset at the ruckus created by BJP MLAs, who had walked out by the time he rose to speak, Kumar said, “They have gone away. Had they stayed back, they would have got an earful.”

Also read: 17 die in hooch tragedy in Bihar; BJP stages walkout, Nitish loses his cool

“Such a huge bridge collapse incident took place. It came in the papers the next day and then all fell silent,” said the Bihar CM, who has of late grown quite vocal against alleged media censorship by the Centre. The allusion was to the collapse of a suspension walkway in Gujarat at the end of October which had killed more than 100 people.

“On the other hand the other incident that took place earlier… it was talked about so much”, said Kumar, in an obvious reference to the collapse of a flyover at Kolkata six years ago.

Also read: Smarting over break-up, BJP keen to dent Nitish Kumar’s image

A major political controversy erupted in West Bengal after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a rally that the mishap was an “act of fraud” on part of the Mamata Banerjee government and “God’s message” to the people of the state that they vote her out.

Kumar, the longest-serving CM of Bihar, has been sore over the flak his government has been drawing over the hooch tragedy in Saran.