Congress Demands Bihar Minister’s Resignation Over Fake Medicine Conviction

Patna: The Congress party has called for the resignation of Bihar’s Urban Development and Housing Minister, Jibesh Kumar, following his conviction in a fake medicine case. Addressing a press conference at the party’s state headquarters in Patna on Saturday, AICC national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said Kumar’s continued presence in the state cabinet was “morally indefensible”.

Shrinate alleged that a pharmaceutical company in which Kumar is a director had produced substandard drugs, and a court in Rajasthan had found him—along with eight others—guilty in the case. The court, she added, had also ordered authorities to monitor the convicted individuals closely.

“Despite this, Jibesh Kumar shamelessly continues as minister, and the so-called double engine government is shielding him,” she said.

She demanded that the minister step down on moral grounds and urged the Health Department and Drug Controller to clarify what steps had been taken following the conviction. “How many raids were conducted? Were new samples collected? What further actions were taken?” she asked.

Shrinate also criticised the state’s deteriorating law and order situation, pointing to the high-profile Khemka murder case and the killing of a Muzaffarpur rape survivor. Quoting National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, she claimed that crimes against women, Dalits, and OBCs had risen by over 300% under the NDA government in Bihar.

Taking a swipe at the administration, she remarked that instead of ensuring justice and governance, the NDA was busy forming a “son-in-law commission” and “searching for Netaji’s lost dogs”.