Patna, Jan 21 : The blame game between the ruling and opposition parties over the crippling power situation in Bihar continued Monday even as none of the political leaders, including the chief minister, bothered to visit Kahalgaon town where five people were killed in police firing during protests.

Neither Chief Minister Nitish Kumar nor Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi have visited Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, 150 km from here, to meet the family members of those killed in police firing last Friday and Saturday.

None of the opposition leaders bothered either. Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Bhagalpur MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is away in China. The Janata Dal-United legislator has also not visited, fearing hostility from the people.

Similarly, Leader of Opposition Rabri Devi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Steel Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ramvilas Paswan have preferred to engage in a blame game instead of meeting the aggrieved people.

State Energy Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav has accused the central government for creating an artificial power scarcity in the state. He asked the centre to come out with a white paper on Bihar's power crisis.

Yadav said Bihar has been getting only 600 to 700 MW of power daily against the average daily quota of 1,170 MW from the central pool.

Of the 700 MW, the state had to fulfil its commitment of 75 MW each to the Railways and Nepal, which left Bihar with hardly 550 MW of power.

"How can we manage when our demand is for 1,600 to 1,800 MW daily?" Yadav asked.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar also blamed the central government for the power crisis.

"The blame lies squarely with the centre. Instead of increasing the allocated quota, the centre has reduced it," Nitish Kumar said.

He said the central government was denying power to the state as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is in power in Bihar.

Lalu Prasad has flayed the state government for the death of the five people. He wondered why the Nitish Kumar government was blaming the centre for the power crisis in Bihar.

Before coming to power in the state, Nitish Kumar had promised to produce electricity within no time, Lalu Prasad recalled. "Where have all the plans to produce power gone?" he asked.

He also said that in his 15-year-rule such an instance had never taken place - of people being killed in police firing for demanding power.

State Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey blamed the media for "exaggerating" the news of the killing. Choubey, who represents an assembly seat in Bhagalpur, refused to accept that five people had been killed in police firing.

When a reporter of a TV channel disclosed the names of the five killed in firing, the minister said he would resign from the government if he was proved wrong.

Meanwhile, tension continued in Kahalgaon Monday, a day after an angry mob set ablaze a security personnel vehicle and Muslims refused to observe Muharram to protest the deaths.

The opposition parties led by the RJD have called a state-wide shutdown on Friday.

Officials said the chief minister has ordered a judicial probe into the police firing.

Acute power shortage has sparked protests in many parts of Bihar, one of the least developed states of India. Electricity offices have been ransacked in at least two dozen districts in the past few weeks.

The government earlier announced a compensation of Rs.100,000 each to the victims of police firing and transferred officials, including the officer in charge of the Kahalgaon police station.

(IANS)

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