Minister’s barbs at PM enrage BJP in Bihar

The opposition in Bihar led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday took out a procession to the office of the governor seeking the immediate dismissal of excise minister Abdul Jalil Mastan for allegedly insulting the office of the prime minister.

The opposition in the state has been left fuming after Mastan, who is from the Congress party, was caught on camera at a public function calling the PM names and asking the crowd to hit an image of the prime minister with shoes.

Led by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, the angry lawmakers submitted a memorandum to the governor at Raj Bhawan, the latter’s official residence, urging him to direct chief minister Nitish Kumar to sack the “bad-mouthed” minister.

Pandemonium

In the memorandum, the opposition also reportedly mentioned how the minister had described the prime minister as “robber, terrorist and Naxalite”, and sought the immediate intervention of the governor to address the issue before it took a more serious turn.

“Such a person doesn’t deserve to be in office even for a second. We don’t know what is preventing the chief minister from acting against his cabinet colleague,” Modi told the media, emerging after meeting the governor.

Describing the minister’s conduct as highly disrespectful, he said the opposition would not settle for anything less than his dismissal. “This is not an ordinary incident which can be overlooked. The minister called the prime minister names and asked the crowd at his party rally to hit his photograph with shoes, and the crowd followed suit. There is no question of leaving the issue aside,” the opposition leader declared.

Earlier in the day, the opposition created a ruckus in the assembly, shouting slogans forcing the chair to adjourn the House for the day. The opposition refused to relent even as the minister concerned apologised.