The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Monday deplored Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that rioters would be “hanged upside down if BJP came to power”, and termed it as a way to seek “cheap publicity”.
State parliamentary affairs minister Vinay Kumar Chaudhary said instead of “exploiting the situation electorally”, Shah as the country’s home minister should have made an appeal for peace.
Chaudhary made the remark outside the assembly, after the House was adjourned till 2 PM within minutes of commencement of proceedings with the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’(grand alliance) and the BJP trading charges on the riots in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif towns last week.
On Sunday, at a joint press conference, the state’s Chief Secretary and the DGP had asserted that the communal disturbances that were triggered during Ram Navami festivities, were brought “fully under control” and more than 100 people were arrested from the two riot-hit towns.
Chaudhary, who is a senior leader of the Chief Minister’s JD(U), lashed out at Shah, who had addressed a rally in Nawada district on Sunday, saying “as the Home Minister of the country it was incumbent upon him to have made an appeal for peace. But he used the occasion to exploit the situation electorally and gain cheap publicity”.
“Does it behove the Home Minister to use words like ‘ulta latka denge’ (will hang them upside down)”, said Chaudhary, who also took exception to Shah having spoken to Governor Rajendra Arlekar on the issue.
“The Home Minister knows it well that Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister of Bihar. But his action was clearly aimed at undermining the Chief Minister. It has been his style of functioning whenever it comes to states not ruled by the BJP”, said the JD(U) leader, whose party is now a part of ‘Mahagathbandhan’ which also includes Congress, RJD and the Left. Chaudhary also mocked Shah’s repeated assertion that Nitish Kumar would be spurned by the BJP if the JD(U) supremo expressed the desire for realignment.
“There has been no proposal from the JD(U)’s side. Clearly, Amit Shah is betraying his exasperation by making such statements”, said Chaudhary, who spoke while being flanked on both sides by leaders of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’.
The Bihar minister also chuckled when his reaction was sought on shouts of “ban the RSS” heard inside the assembly during the 10-15 minutes which saw BJP and ‘Mahagathbandhan’ engaging in a shouting match until Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary adjourned the proceedings.
“What do I say? The ban was first imposed by none other than the first Home Minister of the country whose gigantic statue is flaunted by these people as an achievement of theirs”, quipped Chaudhary, referring to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
He also said he was disturbed to see video clips wherein “youths in the age group of 15-20 years” were seen raising communal slogans and wondered “in which direction do their ideological mentors mean to take the nation by instilling such vicious thoughts in young minds”.
Reiterating that the situation in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif, district headquarters of Rohtas and Nalanda respectively, was “fully under control”, Chaudhary nonetheless urged media persons to “share any information that you may have which could help us identify more culprits”.
“The BJP had been Nitish Kumar’s ally. It is well aware that our leader’s policy is of zero tolerance towards communalism”, said Chaudhary.
Notably, Shah had to cancel his programme at Sasaram, which the BJP blamed on imposition of Section 144 CrPC in the town, though the district administration of Rohtas has denied that prohibitory orders were clamped.
