After raids on Lalu Prasad, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar cancels public events in Patna

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has cancelled Monday's public interface event and the subsequent press conference on health grounds, triggering speculation that he was avoiding the media in view of the recent CBI raids on the family of Bihar alliance partner Lalu Prasad.

Neither Kumar, nor his party, the JD(U), has commented so far on Friday's CBI raids in four cities in connection with a corruption case, in which Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi are among the accused.

"The Lok Samvad programme, which was scheduled for tomorrow, stands cancelled due to an indisposition of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar," said an official



release said on Sunday.

It said the JD(U) chief was down with fever.

Lok Samvad is a public interface programme of Kumar held every Monday. It is aimed at collecting the feedback of the people on the implementation of the development schemes and gather new ideas to strengthen 'sushasan' (good governance).

After the Lok Samvad programme, the chief minister holds a press conference.

While Kumar has maintained a studied silence on the issue of raids on Lalu's family, another ally Congress has expressed solidarity with the RJD chief and accused the central BJP government of "misusing" the official machinery.