Senior BJP leader C P Thakur today said Bihar Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma should resign owning moral responsibility for the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur.
Talking to a regional news channel here, the former Union minister said Verma of the JD(U) should take a call on the demand for her resignation by opposition parties, keeping in view the "lapses on part of the social welfare department" on which the scandal has been blamed.
"The scandal points at huge lapses on part of the state social welfare department. How could the department be unaware of such a huge racket taking place right under its nose?" Thakur asked.
"There are also complaints of similar irregularities having taken place at other organisations controlled by the department," Thakur said.
Asked about the demand by opposition parties for the resignation of Verma, whose husband has been accused of being a regular visitor to the Muzaffarpur shelter home by the wife of one of the arrested accused, Thakur said, "She should take a decision on the same based on her conscience. I think she should take moral responsibility for the scandal."
The BJP is a partner in the ruling coalition in Bihar.
Asked about Thakur's statement, the JD(U), which is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, came up with a guarded response.
"C P Thakur has expressed his personal opinion. It is not that the BJP has come up with an official stand. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, himself a senior BJP leader, has been articulating the government's position on the issue," JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)