When cement is corruption: Jethmalani pans Nitish's Oppn unity bid amid bridge collapse

Mahesh Jethmalani, Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP and senior Supreme Court advocate, fired a fresh salvo at Nitish Kumar ahead of the Opposition meeting in Patna. The meeting, originally slated for June 12, has now been rescheduled to June 23, prompting Jethmalani to label the circumstances surrounding the postponement as "ominous". In his scathing attack, the BJP leader cast a spotlight on the alleged pervasive corruption plaguing the state of Bihar, particularly drawing attention to the recent collapse of the under-construction Bhagalpur bridge.

"The circumstances surrounding the now postponed Opposition meeting in Bihar from 12th to 23rd June are ominous! The topmost and other senior leaders of every opposition party scheduled to attend the meeting are mired in corruption cases of the most grave magnitude. Now comes news of the collapse of a bridge like a pack of cards in Bhagalpur in Bihar, the cost of construction of which was more than Rs 1,700 crores," he said in his tweet.

The circumstances surrounding the now postponed #OppositionMeeting in Bihar from 12th to 23rd June are ominous! The topmost and other senior leaders of every opposition party scheduled to attend the meeting are mired in corruption cases of the most grave magnitude. Now comes news…

— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM)

"The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by Nitish Kumar in 2014 and its original scheduled completion was to be by 2019. However on April 30th last year the bridge collapsed and its commencement was rescheduled," he added. Recalling the collapse of the Bhagalpur bridge in 2022, he said that during the previous alliance between Nitish Kumar's party and the BJP, then Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav had publicly dubbed Nitish as the "father of corruption" in Bihar.

Can Bihar be the bridge for opposition unity when the cement is corruption?

The collapse of the Bhagalpur bridge has not only jeopardised the bridge's reconstruction but also derailed the intended commencement on June 11, coinciding with Lalu Prasad Yadav's birthday, Jethamalani said. "After Nitish broke his alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the RJD Tejashwi Yadav became Minister in charge of road construction and the bridge was to start on Lalu Prasad’s birthday this year on June 11," he said.

"The second collapse put paid to this plan! The bridge now has to be constructed from scratch! Incidentally, this is the 10th bridge collapse in Bihar in the last 3 years!  There is near unanimity in the state that corruption is rife in the bridge-building sector," the saffron party leader added.

Taking a jibe at Nitish's Opposition unity attempt, Jethmalani said, "The irony though is unmissable: can Bihar be the bridge for opposition unity when the cement is corruption?"

Notably, prominent leaders of the Opposition parties including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, will be attending the Nitish-chaired Opposition meeting in Patna on June 23.