Won’t tolerate bid to ruin communal harmony: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Nitish Kumar made it clear that he would not compromise with divisive forces even as the Opposition RJD has accused the BJP of trying to spark communal tension. 
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (File | PTI)
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (File | PTI)

PATNA: Giving voice to his growing discomfort with ally BJP for the second consecutive day, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar made it clear on Tuesday that he would not compromise with “divisive forces” even as the main Opposition RJD has accused the BJP of trying to spark communal tension.  Kumar is upset with the saffron party over three recent incidents in the state.

“I have ruled Bihar for over 12 years. I have never allowed any quarrel in society to get out of control and acquire a communal nature. I will never allow this to happen,” said Kumar at a ‘Yuva Sammelan’ organised by party colleague Ashok Chaudhary.

Specifically naming the three recent communal flashpoints in Bihar – Araria, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur, he said: “I am shocked to hear the kind of information some people have spread… In Darbhanga, it was merely a dispute over land and it (murder) had nothing to do with a place being named after Prime Minister  Narendra Modi.”“Despite this, if any effort is made to spread hatred in society or to ruin communal harmony, I will not tolerate this… If anyone took out a procession in Bhagalpur without the administration’s permission, an FIR was lodged,” he added.

Kumar is unhappy with the BJP leadership – especially Union ministers Giriraj Singh and Ashwini Kumar Choubey and BJP state chief Nityanand Rai – for their statements during and after the recent bypolls for Araria Lok Sabha constituency and Jehanabad Assembly constituency, which the ruling NDA lost.

Soon after the BJP candidate lost in Muslim-dominated Araria, Giriraj Singh said the place would become a hub of terrorism. Rai had said in a campaign speech in Araria that the RJD candidate’s victory would turn Araria into an ISI hub.  

In Darbhanga, even after police made it clear that an old man’s murder had nothing to do with a site being named after Modi, both Singh and Rai said the man was killed because he had named the site after the Prime Minister.Bhagalpur witnessed communal clashes during a procession of BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal workers led by Ashwini Choubey’s son Arjit Sashwat on March 17. 

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