PATNA: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Saturday took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying people from the state were stuck in different parts of the country but the JD(U) chief instead of raising this issue was giving lessons about "principles of lockdown".
"People from Bihar are stuck across the country, and Nitish Kumar is giving lessons in principles of lockdown. Various state governments may be doing something but Nitish has not spoken to the states concerned. He did not raise the issue during the meeting (of CMs) with the prime minister," Kishor tweeted.
Kishor, once a confidant of the JD(U) president before their differences led to his expulsion, attached a news report about Kumar's objection to the Uttar Pradesh government sending buses to bring back students from Kota in Rajasthan.
Kishor had also questioned the decision of the second round of the lockdown for 19 days and asked if the government has an alternate plan in case the lockdown doesn't give the desired results till May 3.
The Bihar chief minister has reportedly called it against the principles of lockdown. He has appealed to the students and migrant workers "to stay wherever you are, the state government is extending all possible helps".
Earlier, the leader of the opposition and RJD Tejashawi Yadav had asked Nitish Kumar to make a way out to bring back the students from Kota. He appreciated the decision of UP CM Yogi Adityanath to bring the students of UP and termed his decision "commendable". He lambasted the Nitish Kumar government for "abandoning" the students as well as migrant workers stuck outside'the state.
Yadav tweeted: "The migrant brother is the human resource capital of the state. All these skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labourers are the earning pool of the state, who contribute in thousands of crores per annum to the state economy. Leaving them as such by the state in times of crisis is against morality, humanity and rajdhanrma".
JD(U) spokesperson Nikhil Mandal slammed Kishor and Yadav saying the Nitish government is running more than 50 relief camps in other states for those who are stuck therein due to lockdown. It has benefited more than 7.66 lakh people. "An amount of Rs 1000 has also been credited to the accounts of over 10.11 lakh people who are outside the state but these two persons don't see these works", he said.