By IANS,
Patna : Angry that a bridge state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar promised in the last Lok Sabha poll has not yet come up, villagers in his home district Nalanda Wednesday tartly told him: ‘no bridge, no votes’.
Hundreds of angry villagers protested moments after Nitish Kumar finished his speech at an election meeting Wednesday. The villagers raised slogans against him and his government for failing to construct a bridge, a long awaited demand.
The protest by villagers against Nitish Kumar at Telmar under Harnaut block in Nalanda constituency stunned everyone, including Nitish Kumar himself, as well as leaders and workers of his Janata Dal (United) party.
Villagers raised the slogan in Hindi “Pul nahin to vote nahin, hum apko hareinge”(No bridge, no vote, we will defeat you) to give vent to their frustration of years.
Nitish Kumar, who is a star campaigner of the JD-U and its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been projected as ‘vikas purush’ (Development Man) for initiating several projects in the state.
Residents of dozens of villages, who had gathered to listen to Nitish Kumar were disappointed when he hardly mentioned the promises made during the last election, including to construct a bridge in the area.
“When Kumar did not mention anything about the bridge and forgot his promises, it angered people so much that they staged protest to draw his attention to their old demand,” said a local JD-U leader who was present at the election meeting.
Nitish Kumar was campaigning for JD-U candidate Kaushalendra Kumar in Nalanda.
Harnaut block, about 80 km from here, happens to be home block of Nitish Kumar as his village falls under it.
Nitish Kumar in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls won from the Nalanda seat and was defeated from neighbouring Barh seat. Later, he resigned as an MP when he became the chief minister in November 2005.