It was an inadvertent mistake, apologies Mukesh Sahni on brother's act

Opposition leaders created a furore in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Friday after Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department Mukesh Sahani's brother Santosh Sahani participated in a government programme at Hajipur in Bihar's Vaishali district and handed over the keys of vehicles under a state government scheme to the beneficiaries.

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was on Friday left hugely embarrassed by a controversy triggered by a breach of protocol involving a cabinet minister whose brother presided over a function as his 'representative'.

The chief minister expressed his displeasure on the floor of the assembly while intervening in reply to RJD MLA Bhai Virendra who had questioned the 'propriety' of minister Mukesh Sahni deputing his brother Santosh for a function held in Hajipur earlier this week. "I read about this in the newspapers today. I will look into it. If anything of the sort has happened, it is certainly not proper," Kumar told the House glum facedly.

Sahni is the minister for animal husbandry and fisheries. His brother had attended the function on Wednesday.

A political greenhorn, Sahni was summoned by the chief minister to his chamber where he sought the latter's pardon. Talking to reporters later, he sheepishly said, It was an inadvertent mistake. It will not be repeated. He also made a bid to salvage the situation by insisting that he had not deputed his brother to the function as his representative.

"I was scheduled to attend the Hajipur function. I could not because I was busy attending the assembly session. Santosh was there as the working president of my party. Some representative of my party remains present at all functions involving my department," said Sahni, who is the founding chief of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

He added that the officials on duty "could have been extra deferential towards Santosh given the fact that he is my younger brother". At the function, more than 30 recipients were given away benefits under a scheme that enables fishermen, belonging to SC/ST and extremely backward classes, to purchase motor vehicles with the government bearing 90 per cent of the cost.

The release issued by the administration at Hajipur, district headquarters of Vaishali, also mentioned the presence of Santosh Sahni as the ministers "pratinidhi" (representative). The episode came to light after it appeared in a section of the media and the opposition members in both houses of the legislature expressed outrage.

"It is appalling. We wonder whether the minister had fancied himself as Lord Rama and his brother as Bharata who ruled Ayodhya on behalf of the elder sibling," Congress Legislature Party leader Ajit Sharma told reporters outside the assembly.

Sharma also took strong exception to "officials according to honours to the minister's brother, who is neither an official himself nor an elected representative. Such errant officials should be identified and dismissed from service".

RJD MLC Subodh Rai demanded that the minister be sacked. Congress member in the Legislative Council Prem Chandra Mishra echoed the same sentiment. Leaders of the BJP, which had accommodated the VIP into the NDA and facilitated Sahni's induction into the cabinet despite his electoral loss, were seen fumbling for answers when approached with queries.

A Bollywood set designer by profession, Sahni had taken the political plunge in 2018 when he floated the VIP in an apparent bid to rally along with the "mallah" (Nishad) community, in the process earning the sobriquet "son of mallah".

After a nearly two-year-long collaboration with the RJD-led Grand Alliance which brought him no electoral success, Sahni made a sudden exit ahead of the assembly polls last year citing Tejashwi Yadavs refusal to accord him a respectable share of seats.

Hectic parleys with top BJP leaders in Delhi helped him gain entry into the NDA and his party was given 11 seats by the saffron party out of its own quota.

After Kumar returned as chief minister, Sahni was inducted into the cabinet despite having himself lost from Simri Bakthiyarpur, though four seats were won by his party. The BJP helped him get elected to the Legislative Council from the seat vacated by its leader Vinod Narayan Jha who is now an MLA.

With inputs from agencies