After the collapse of the under-construction bridge over the Ganga in Bihar’s Bhagalpur, the state minister Tej Pratap has blamed the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), asserting that “we are building the bridge, they are destroying it”

Pratap’s remarks have ignited a war of words between the ruling government and its opposition BJP, and invited a sharp reaction from the latter, which said, “may god give him good sense.”

BJP demolished the bridge: Tej Pratap

Speaking to the news agency ANI, a day after the Rs 1,700-crore bridge collapse, Tej Pratap Yadav, who is the elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said, “The bridge has been demolished by BJP. We are building the bridge and they are demolishing it.”

Reacting to the statement, BJP Member of Parliament Ravi Shankar Prasad said today that the Bihar government should learn to respect taxpayers’ money.

“What can I say about this? May god give him good sense…Nitish Babu, two parliament buildings could have been constructed for Rs 1,700 crores which was wasted by your government. They should learn to respect the taxpayers’ money,” Mr Prasad said.

Tejashwi slams BJP

The fresh exchange of charges comes after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav pointed out on Sunday that a portion of the bridge had collapsed on April 30, 2022, when the BJP was in power in the state in an alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Janata Dal (United).

Mr Yadav said “many structural defects” had been pointed out by experts and they had pulled down many portions which had been flagged as particularly vulnerable. “Sunday’s incident confirms our worst apprehensions,” he added.

However, the senior BJP leader and former state road construction department minister Nitin Nabin had accused Mr Yadav of hiding the truth. “When experts who inspected the bridge had already informed the government that there were serious structural defects, then why did the government allow the continuation of the construction work,” the leader said.

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Under-construction bridge collapse

The 3.16-km bridge, which is meant to connect Sultanganj and Khagaria, collapsed for the second time in 14 months on Sunday. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had ordered an inquiry into the incident, after which a show-cause notice was issued to the construction company and an executive engineer had been suspended.