JDU's Shyam Rajak hits back at opposition to naming new Bihar bridge after Nitish Kumar 

Patna, Nov 15 (IANS) Janta Dal-United's national General Secretary Shyam Rajak on Sunday hit back at Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rohini Acharya over her objection to a bridge being named after former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, invoking the fodder and bitumen scams to target the party leadership. 

Taking a swipe at Lalu Prasad’s daughter for demanding that the newly constructed six-lane Kacchi Dargah Raghopur-Bidupur Ganga bridge should be named after her father or as the 'Social Justice Bridge', Rajak said that if the state were to be named after political figures, it could also be named after scandals associated with their tenure.

"According to them, the entire state of Bihar should be renamed Charanagar. There was the fodder scam and the bitumen scam; a state should be named Bitumen Scam State, or another should be named Fodder Scam State," he said.

He alleged that those who were known for corruption had forgotten the condition of Bihar before 2005 and defended Nitish Kumar's contribution to the state's development.

"If people who were only known for their corruption speak like this, then probably they have forgotten Bihar before 2005. Our leader, respected Nitish Kumar ji, took charge of a dilapidated Bihar and worked to transform it into a developed and respected state," he said.

Rajak maintained that naming the bridge after Nitish Kumar was not merely an honour for the former Chief Minister but also recognition of the state and its people.

"This is not about honouring Nitish Kumar; this is about honouring the entire state, and its people. The bridge is a symbol of remembering a person who, irrespective of their caste, creed, background, religion, and gender, took the people towards better conditions. That person is Nitish Kumar," he added.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced the newly constructed six-lane bridge would be renamed as 'Nitish Setu ' after the JD-U President, which the family of veteran leader and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has opposed.

In a post on X, Choudhary said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would dedicate the bridge to the nation during his visit to Bihar on November 21.

The Kachchi Dargah-Bidupur bridge project, built at a cost of more than Rs 5,000 crore, is a major infrastructure project connecting North and South Bihar.

The state government secured a loan of Rs 3,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank, while the remaining Rs 2,000 crore was funded through its own resources.

The decision to construct the bridge was taken in 2015, and its foundation stone was laid in 2016.

--IANS

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