Perhaps for the first time in his political career, Nitish Kumar faced flak from Muslim organisations; Imarat Shariah declined the Bihar CM’s invitation for an ‘Iftar party’ hosted by the state at the CM’s 1, Anne Marg residence on Sunday, citing his support to the Wafq (Amendment) Bill as reason.
Accusing Nitish of failure to keep his promise to protect ‘rights’ of Muslims, Imarat Shariah said with JD(U) lending support to Wafq Bill, Nitish no longer remains a secular leader: This development may come as a rude shock to the JD(U) ahead of the Assembly elections due in October-November.
BJP eyes 3 crore Bihar migrant workers
Celebrating Bihar foundation on March 22 every year is not new. However, for the first time, the BJP decided to celebrate the state’s foundation day outside Bihar apparently to woo the nearly three crore Bihari migrant workers ahead of state assembly polls.
To that effect, week-long functions are being held at 75 locations across the country. As a major chunk of Bihar migrants live in Delhi, Gujarat, UP, West Bengal, Haryana and Assam, BJP is organising a host of events as part of the week-long ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat Sneh Milan’ to gain traction among these people.
Govenrment expresses concern over Bhatinda violence
The Bihar government has taken a strong exception to the incident in Punjab’s Bhatinda where students from the state were attacked recently. Bihar chief secretary Amreet Lal Meena spoke to his Punjab counterpart over reports of an attack on students from Bihar at a private university in Bhatinda.
Meena said he spoke to Punjab chief secretary over the issue, saying the latter has assured the situation was under control and a strict vigil is being maintained by the concerned authorities. DyCM Samrat Chaudhary demanded the Punjab government provide adequate security to Bihar students. However, attack on native students at a distant state has left Bihar in shock.
Ramashankar
Our correspondent in Bihar
ramashankar@newindianexpress.com