Nitish shamelessly trying to cover mid-day meal tragedy under a 'conspiracy theory': BJP

A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he felt there was a conspiracy behind the Chhapra mid-day meal tragedy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Tuesday accused the former of shamelessly trying to cover up his role under the garb of a 'conspiracy theory'.

"Well, Nitish Kumar has comeback with a conspiracy theory. The fact is Mr. Nitish Kumar, the honorable chief minister of Bihar, is shamelessly trying to cover it under a conspiracy theory holding the political parties in Bihar responsible for mid-day meal death in which 23 children have died," Rudy said

"By declaring this as a conspiracy, Bihar's CM is trying to wash his hands off his responsibilities," he added.

Rudy further said that the chief minister preferred giving political statement but couldn't find time to visit the children.

According to television reports, in his first comments on the mid-day meal tragedy, Kumar has alleged that the BJP and the RJD had a "secret understanding" to derive political mileage from the incident.

"The Forensic Science Laboratory, which highlights the presence of pesticide in the mid-day meal, has confirmed our apprehensions about a conspiracy behind the tragedy at a school in Saran last week", he told a meeting of party MPs, MLAs and office-bearers yesterday as part of Mission 2014 Lok Sabha elections

The Chief Minister charged "an understanding between BJP and RJD was very much visible both after Bodhgaya blasts and Chhapra mid-day meal tragedy" as the two parties had called bandhs on the same after the two incidents, state JD(U) spokesman Rajeev Ranjan quoted him as saying.

About 23 children have died after eating a free mid-day meal at their school in Bihar's Chhapra district on July 16 and several others are undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

Kumar had ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. He also announced a compensation of two lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased.