Bettiah (West Champaran), Nov. 10: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today strongly reacted to a Team Anna member criticising his (Nitish’s) manner of appointing a Lokayukta in Bihar.

“I neither need a certificate nor preaching from someone (read Arvind Kejriwal) on steps against corruption. Our government has, already, initiated strongest measures after Independence to nail corruption,” said the chief minister during his Seva Yatra in West Chapmparan district.

Nitish was miffed at Kezriwal as reported in a section of media for criticising the chief minister’s way of setting up the institution of Lokayukta in the state. He (Kejriwal) suggested that Nitish should put in place a Lokpal on the lines of Team Anna’s Jan Lokpal bill or the Uttarakhand government’s Lokayukta Bill passed recently.

“I have been running the government with the overwhelming support of the people of the state. I will do what I feel better to address the people’s wishes. No body other than the people who have elected me have the locus standi to preach me,” Nitish said.

The Nitish government has decided to introduce a legislation to set up a strong Lokayukta in the state in the next session of the state legislature.

A draft of the proposed legislation, christened The Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011, was approved by the cabinet at a meeting on November 8.