PATNA : The ruling JD(U), it seems, is a divided house and its ministers are not ready to learn any lesson after rural works department minister Bhim Singh's controversial remarks (People join Army to get martyred) about the Bihar martyrs killed in an ambush along the LoC in the Poonch sector in Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday.

On Saturday, another Bihar minister courted controversy by his trivializing remarks on the fast by the family members of Vijay Kumar Rai , one of the four martyred Army jawans of Bihar , at their native village Anandpur Thekaha village under Bihta block of Patna district, demanding that Army chief Gen Bikram Singh should visit them and assure the family that Rai's killing would be avenged. Though the family ended the fast on Saturday, but not before agriculture minister Narendra Singh described it as engineered under a "political conspiracy".

"The protest fast by the family members of one of the Army martyrs in their village is being done under a political conspiracy. They have been made to sit on dharna and fast by political parties," said Narendra, when mediapersons contacted him for his quotes on the series of developments since the cremation of the four martyrs on Thursday. Earlier, on Friday, the efforts of JD(U) Patliputra MP Ranjan Yadav to convince the family against holding the fast had failed. Yadav had also faced the villagers' ire.

The agriculture minister said, "The fast by the family of the martyr has no importance. The state government has done whatever was required to be done. The fast held by them is not right."

Commenting on the controversy, JD(U) leader and former Bihar minister Devesh Chandra Thakur said, "The remark made by the minister was condemnable, reprehensible and even regrettable. If I had been in his place in the situation when everyone seems to be demanding his resignation, I would have resigned. Yet, every human being can commit an error. He has also repeatedly apologized. Even the CM has apologized. Now, things should be left where they are."

Meanwhile, the relatives of martyr Vijay Rai, including his wife Pushpa Devi and his brothers, ended their fast on Saturday after Colonel AK Mitra and Lieutenant Colonel LB Singh of the Bihar Regiment Centre, Danapur, reached their house and assured to fulfil their demands regarding rehabilitation of the family. They assured a teacher's job in an Army school to Pushpa, apart from free education for her two minor children Vivek and Neha. An Army job to the martyr's brother Brij Nandan Rai and a residence for the family at Danapur were also promised. Colonel Mitra and Lieutenant Colonel Singh said the dues clearance was also under process.

