Prem Singh Meena, the newly appointed district magistrate of Bhagalpur, has a tough task in hand. He will have to deal with the ghost of the rift between politicians and the administration, which has hampered development in the district.

The strained relations between state health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who also happens to be the BJP MLA from Bhagalpur, and the outgoing district magistrate, Narmadeshwar Lal, had adversely affected many development projects in the constituency.

A senior district officer, who agreed to talk to The Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said: “Bhagalpur is certainly not an easy place to work. The new district magistrate will have to be very cautious. He has to bridge the gap between politicians and administrative officials for smoother functioning of government work.”

Sources in the district administration said the recent transfer of Lal was “a result of the not-so-good relation between the minister and the DM”. Political observers, too, believe the transfer was done at the behest of the health minister, as some officials had allegedly gone against him. Choubey, however, refused to say anything on the development. “There is no need to comment on such issues. Such transfers are a routine affair of the state government,” he said over the phone.

“During the janata darbar of chief minister Nitish Kumar here on June 1, Lal’s supporters had openly criticised Choubey for his negative comments against the district magistrate, who hails from the backward community. The supporters had then requested Nitish to terminate Choubey. The health minister, who was present at the darbar, tried to protest but was stopped by the chief minister,” a senior district officer, who was present at the event, said.

Prior to that, Sikandar Yadav, an employee with the Bhagalpur circle of Bihar State Electricity Board and reportedly close to Lal, was transferred from Bhagalpur to Barauni on May 28.

Yadav, who was on deputation in the district administration, had refused to join his new office. “I was deputed to conduct the CM’s Seva Yatra here by the district magistrate. How could I have gone to Barauni?” Yadav asked. He was suspended by the electricity board for his refusal to join his new office in Barauni on May 30.

The alleged disagreement between Choubey and the outgoing DM started after the former initiated an inquiry into large-scale irregularities in the health department in Motihari during Lal’s tenure.

The situation finally reached its climax when Choubey openly alleged the district administration’s non-cooperation during Swasthya Mahakumbh conducted here in April.

Choubey had then accused the administration of creating a roadblock in development projects. His statement angered Lal’s supporters, who staged demonstrations against the minister and called a Bhagalpur bandh on May 10. Lal, however, denied his involvement in the entire episode.