Bihar CM Nitish Kumar refuses to answer questions on death due to AES

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday refused to answer questions on deaths due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar where the toll has reached 128.

Nitish evaded the reporters by keeping the windows up and refusing to give any reply despite repeated requests by the reporter.

Nitish was in Delhi to attend the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were "one nation, one election" and other important topics were discussed.

Nitish on Tuesday visited Sri Krishna hospital to take stock of the encephalitis outbreak.

Earlier, Kumar had announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the children who died due to AES.

He had also given directions to the health department, district administration and doctors to take necessary measures to fight the outbreak.

AES is a viral disease which causes mild flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions, and headache.

Previously, his Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi appeared to be unfazed about child deaths due to encephalitis as he conveniently dodged a question on the issue earlier today stating that his press conference was only about banking committees.