BJP leaders start 'gift wapsi' in Bihar

Patna: In an embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government for raining gifts on legislators, two senior BJP leaders yesterday returned their gifts given by the Education Department in protest against non-payment of salaries to lakhs of school teachers in Bihar.

Nitish Kumar. Pic/PTI

While Sushil Kumar Modi, former deputy chief minister and the leader of BJP legislature party in both Houses of the state legislature, returned all seven gift items, including the microwave oven at a counter in the legislative council, Mangal Pandey, state unit BJP chief, followed suit by returning the oven. Education Minister Ashok Chaudhary said that as far as the salaries of the school teachers were concerned, the BJP leaders should take up the matter with Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and ask her to release funds.

Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and his mother RJD leader Rabri Devi yesterday lashed out at the BJP leaders While Tejaswi said the leaders should not have taken those gifts in the first place, mother Rabri Devi said, "The BJP legislators, including (Sushil Kumar) Modi, had received gifts during the erstwhile RJD rule too. They should return those gifts as well".