Two Bihar ministers die due to COVID-19 in a week, RJD steps up attack on government

Opposition RJD has stepped up its attack on Nitish Kumar government over its handling of COVID-19 situation as the campaign for assembly polls gains momentum ahead of the first phase of polling on October 28. Two Bihar ministers died this week due to the disease.

Bihar Minister for Backward and Extremely Backward Classes Welfare Vinod Singh passed away in Delhi on Monday. Singh, 50, was a BJP MLA from the Pranpur assembly constituency of Katihar district in northeast Bihar. He was thrice elected to the assembly from the constituency.

Singh was infected with COVID-19 in June and had not fully recovered. He was admitted to a private hospital in Delhi on August 16 and died on October 12 following a brain haemorrhage.

State Panchayati Raj Minister Kapil Deo Kamat died in AIIMS Patna on Friday after he was tested positive for COVID-19. He was also ailing from a kidney disorder.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar elections, accused the state government of not doing enough for tackling COVID-19.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is ignorant regarding COVID-19 and is not concerned about the lives of people. Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey is doing nothing to tackle the situation and is only concerned about winning state election," he alleged.

"The people of Bihar are observing all this and will not forgive this government," Yadav told .

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan, whose party was initially keen on the polls being deferred due to COVID-19 situation, said that the visuals of rallies show that social distancing norms were not being followed.

He alleged that Nitish Kumar "does not trust" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "did not ask for President's rule" to defer the elections till COVID-19 situation improved further.

Bihar's total COVID-19 case count stands at 2,02,290 which includes 981 deaths and 10,884 active cases.

( With inputs from ANI )