Budget session of Bihar legislature begins

Patna, Feb 23: The Budget session of the two Houses of Bihar legislature beginning today is likely to be stormy with the opposition parties led by RJD gearing up to corner the Nitish Kumar government on several issues, including law and order situation and alleged irregularities in BPL lists. Governor R S Gavai is scheduled to address a joint sitting of the two Houses on the opening day highlighting the achievements of the over a year-old NDA government in the priority sectors, besides the measures taken for establishing the rule of law and reining in criminal activities. "We have chalked out an action plan to respond to the onslaughts to be launched by the Opposition parties both inside and outside the houses," said JD(U) chief whip in the state assembly Sribhagwan Singh. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, charged some RJD ministers in the UPA government at the Centre with "doing injustice to their own state" and the ruling benches would highlight it to counter the opposition offensive. He disclosed that only 65 lakh families have been included in the BPL list due to the yardstick fixed by the centre and if the yardstick would have been modified, about one crore families would have been eligible for BPL benefits. Claiming that rule of law had been established and fear has been obliterated from the people`s mind, Kumar said the state`s image had changed for the better and entrepreneurs from outside were now keen on investing in Bihar. The opposition parties led by RJD rubbished Kumar`s claim and said their MLAs would grill the state government on law and order issue. Bureau Report