The BJP Monday sought a probe into the award of a Rs 1,600-crore ambulance contract in Bihar to a firm owned by relatives of JD(U) Jehanabad MP Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi, and demanded that it be put on hold until the Patna High Court disposes the matter. The party, which is in the Opposition in the state, called it a “clear case of conflict of interest and political patronage”. Patna Sahib MP and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “We demand a probe into the matter. The 102 ambulance service is for pregnant women, infants and critical patients and the government cannot compromise with its qualities. The award of the contract is an act of favouritism by the Nitish Kumar government.” Union Minister Anurag Thakur told The Indian Express: “All the Opposition leaders who are going to Bihar for the June 23 meeting should question Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the several scams under his watch, including the Rs 1,600-crore ambulance scam." He said the Opposition leaders headed to the meeting must “address issues of corruption and failing infrastructure in Bihar". Besides highlighting the ambulance scam, Thakur also spoke about the collapse of a Rs 1,750-crore bridge in Bhagalpur recently. Rajya Sabha MP and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said: “It is a clear case of conflict of interest and political patronage. We demand that the contract be annulled, especially given the questions raised by the Patna High Court. The state government’s plea of going by the legal opinion of the Advocate General does not hold water when the matter is pending in the HC, and the Supreme Court has also intervened.” He said Pashupatinath Distributors Private Limited had got the contract for a second time – and on both occasions, the Nitish Kumar-led grand alliance was in power.
