The Bihar government has ordered an inquiry into the issuing of a travel pass in favour of an MLA belonging to the ruling BJP, who brought back his teenage daughter from Kota in Rajasthan, amid the ongoing lockdown.
The incident has triggered outrage from the opposition parties which accused the Nitish Kumar government of extending favours to the elite while opposing return of commoners stranded elsewhere in the name of the lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak.
According to Additional Chief Secretary Amir Subhani, the inquiry has been ordered by the general administration to look into aspects like whether the pass was issued by a competent authority and in accordance with norms laid down for the purpose.
He also said action may be taken against officials concerned, if any anomaly was detected in issuing of the pass.
Information and Public Relations Department Minister Neeraj Kumar, who belongs to the JD(U) headed by the chief minister, said, "People should rest assured that if any illegally has been committed in issuing of the pass, those guilty will be injected with an administrative shot."
Anil Singh, who represents Hisua assembly segment in Nawada district, had travelled to the Rajasthan town on April 16, and returned with his 17-year-old daughter, who had enrolled in coaching classes for medical, two days later.
The MLA has claimed that he had to rush to Kota since his daughter had begun to suffer from "depression" after her classes were suspended, following the lockdown and most of her inmates at her hostel had left for their homes.
Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav and poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, among others, reacted sharply to the development and accused the Bihar chief minister of being "insensitive" to hundreds of other students who belong to ordinary families, in addition to lakhs of migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country.
The opposition in the state has been sore over Nitish Kumar's stout opposition to migrants or students being brought back en masse, though his government allows "exceptions", and if people return on their own, they are allowed after medical screening at the state's border.
Moreover, the state's chief secretary had last week shot off an angry letter to the Union home secretary, registering a protest against the District Magistrate of Kota for granting travel permission to about 40 people of the state, including students and their guardians.
A few days later, the chief minister expressed displeasure over his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath for sending buses to bring students from the state, stranded in Kota, back to their homes, saying it was leading to a "mockery of the lockdown".
Meanwhile, AICC in-charge for Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil has alleged, in a video message, that the MLA had travelled in a government vehicle of which the insurance had lapsed.
Brandishing copies of the registration certificate of a Scorpio car, Gohil pointed out that the vehicle was registered in the name "Under Secretary", implying that it was meant for government use.
Officials in the state transport department were not available for the government's reaction on the allegation, but the MLA himself vehemently denied the charge, saying he had travelled by his own car.
"I do not understand which Scorpio car is being talked about. I travelled in my own Fortuner car and all its papers are in order. Anybody can tally the number printed on the pass issued in my favour with the records in the transport department," the MLA told PTI.
Gohil, however, dismissed the legislators defence and asserted "the number printed originally on the pass was the same as that of the Scorpio car".
"We have a copy of the original pass. The MLA is displaying to the media a doctored copy of the pass wherein the number has changed after applying whitener," he alleged.
In the eye of the storm, the MLA said besides being a public representative, he was also a father.
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