Nitish’s rival writes to PM on ‘threat’ to Express staffer

In a swift response to Railway Minister and Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar’s veiled threat to Indian Express correspondent Varghese K. George in Patna yesterday, party MP Brahmanand Mandal has written to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, highlighting the Minister’s indiscretion.

Kumar had told the Express correspondent not to write anything against Bihar as its people would not like it. He had said this in an interview while responding to an exclusive report which revealed how Kumar was building an illegal rail track in his constituency without sanction either from the Planning Commission or the Cabinet.

‘‘Should a Union Cabinet Minister use such language or should he hold out such a threat to anybody?’’ Mandal said and wondered if this was not subversion of democracy. Mandal also recalled how he had highlighted that Kumar ‘‘had links with known mafia of Bihar.’’