On Tuesday, Giriraj Singh accused the Bihar government of corruption in flood relief (File)

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) owes an apology to the people of Patna which is reeling under flood, Union minister Giriraj Singh said on Wednesday.

The BJP leader also attacked the Nitish Kumar government, saying an alert was sounded ahead of the rains.

"It is not a failure of the people of Patna. It is our failure. Residents of the city have reposed so much trust in the NDA, especially the BJP. We owe an apology to them," said Mr Singh.

Mr Singh, a former member of the Nitish Kumar cabinet, is a known detractor of the Chief Minister and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, a senior BJP leader.

"The government issued an alert asking the people to be on guard. But was it on guard itself? Had it been so, people would not have been forced to suffer misery," he said.

On Tuesday also, the BJP leader accused the state government of corruption in flood relief. "Floods seem to have become an occasion for celebration for the state administration," he had said.

Patna has been a BJP stronghold since the 1980s.

The state capital was hit by 342.5 mm of rainfall between September 27 and 30, as against the state average of 255 mm, an official statement said.