RLSP stir in Muzaffarpur on Saturday

PATNA: Reiterating his demand for CM Nitish Kumar’s resignation in view of death 154 children due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in the state, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Thursday said his party would organise a ‘mahadharna (mega sit-in protest)’ at Muzaffarpur on Saturday over the issue.
Kushwaha said the RLSP would also hold an 80km ‘padyatra’ from Muzaffarpur to Patna in the first week of July to press for Nitish’s resignation on moral grounds.
“Instead of raising a hue and cry over leader of opposition in state assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s absence and silence of Grand Alliance partners over the issue, one should focus on measures to fight AES and prevent deaths,” Kushwaha said.
“Nitish should take responsibility for the death of children due to AES. The deaths occurred due to the failure of the government to create a strong and viable healthcare system in the last 15 years when Nitish was at the helm of affairs in the state,” Kushwaha said.
Asked as to why he was not demanding the resignation of health minister Mangal Pandey, Kushwaha said it’s Nitish, and not Pandey, who ran the government in the state.