PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that he has spoken with his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani over the alleged attacks on north-Indians in the western state and that both the state governments are alert about the developments.
Kumar’s statement came in the middle of a heightened blame political game in Bihar over migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh being targeted in Gujarat and aimed at assuaging the frayed nerves on both sides.
Violence against migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was reported after the alleged rape of a toddler on September 28 in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district.
“The person found guilty in the incident must be punished, but an entire community should not be tarred with the same brush. The government there (Gujarat) is also fully alert about this,” said Kumar, adding that he spoke with Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani over the phone on Sunday. Bihar DGP KS Dwivedi has also written a letter to his Gujarat counterpart over the attacks on Bihari migrants, said ADGP (headquarters) SK Singhal.
Bihar’s ruling BJP and JD(U) attacked the Opposition Congress and RJD over the exodus of migrant workers from the state being forced to return from Gujarat due to the attacks and threats they face there. While BJP and JD(U) insisted that it was Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, an outfit founded by Gujarat Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, that was behind the attacks on Bihari and UP migrants, both Congress and RJD rejected the claims.
What came handy for BJP and JD(U) is the fact that Thakor is currently Congress’s second-in-charge of Bihar after senior leader and senior fellow Gujarat MLA Shaktisinh Gohil.
Gohil, currently on a tour of Bihar, has denied that Thakor’s outfit is orchestrating the attacks on the north-Indian migrant workers in Gujarat. He blamed Gujarat’s ruling BJP and the Sangh Pariwar outfits for the violence and held the Vijay Rupani government responsible.
JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar shot off an open letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi blaming the national party for the violence against Biharis. “You appointed your Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakor as one of the national secretaries in charge of Bihar and his outfit Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena is driving out migrant Biharis,” he wrote.
Accusing Congress of spreading hatred against north Indians in Gujarat, JD(U) national general secretary KC Tyagi demanded immediate arrest of Thakor and a ban on his outfit. He also asked Congress to remove both Thakor and Gohil from their responsibilities of Bihar and ask them not to visit the state.
Bihar BJP leader and former minister Samrat Chaudhary vowed not to let Thakor enter the state. Senior BJP leader CP Thakur’s son Vivek Thakur warned Thakor of “grave consequences”.
Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav of JAP asked Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi to ensure that attacks on Biharis in Gujarat stop. “If that does not happen, we will not let any Gujarati enter Bihar,” he warned.