Begusarai/Patna: Union minister Giriraj Singh's declaration that officials who did not listen to the people be "beaten up with bamboo sticks" was on Sunday frowned upon by his former boss, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Singh made his latest controversial remark at a function in his Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency on the previous day.
The firebrand BJP leader was visibly peeved over repeated complaints from locals that officials often paid no heed when they were approached with grievances. Kumar, in whose cabinet Singh had served till less than a decade ago, was asked by journalists what he thought about the utterances.
"You should go and ask Giriraj whether the use of such language is nyaysangat (proper)," said Kumar, a stickler for propriety in public behaviour, with a broad smile barely concealing his detestation.
The Union minister, who moved to the Centre in 2014 and was elevated from MoS to the cabinet rank five years later, had made the remark at a function organised by an agricultural institute. Singh, who earlier represented Nawada, won Begusarai for his party by defeating CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar by a margin of over four lakh votes, holds animal husbandry, fisheries and dairy portfolios.
Raed: Beat officials with bamboo, if they don't listen to you: Giriraj to Begusarai residents
