A BJP worker in Bihar was on Monday punished for asking a top leader of the party a few questions about the execution of development schemes that the leader found too uncomfortable. The perturbed leader, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, ordered the party worker to be arrested.
The incident, which occurred at the BJP’s vikash shivir (development camp) programme in the southern district town of Lakhiserai, left hundreds of party workers dumbfounded. The fact that it was none other than Mr Modi also belied the Nitish Kumar government’s insistent claims that the dominant public discourse in Bihar had shifted from crime to development during the NDA regime.
When Mr Modi was addressing BJP workers, Rajesh Kumar, an ordinary party worker reportedly from the BJP-represented Assembly constituency of Suryagarha in Lakhiserai, asked him some questions about the implementation of the MNREGS and the recent CAG report. The deputy CM ignored him and became upset when Mr Kumar insisted on getting answers, said BJP sources.
Under Mr Modi’s orders, Mr Kumar was immediately grabbed by policemen and whisked away from the meeting venue. He was taken to a police station in a jeep and was released hours later, said BJP sources.
Mr Modi could not be contacted, but BJP Lakhiserai district president Chhedi Gupta said: “This man was a nuisance as he was in a drunken condition.” BJP sources familiar with the incident, however, said Mr Kumar, aged about 25, was not inebriated.
BJP sources said the incident could be taken up for discussion by Bihar BJP president C.P. Thakur at a meeting later this week.