New Delhi : The bitterness between warring alliances in Bihar politics rose higher on Saturday with the appointment of Ram Nath Kovind as the new Governor of the state. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar fumed that he was not ”consulted” on the matter and that he only learnt about the appointment from the media. Later, his party JD(U) issued a terse statement saying the appointment was against the Sarkaria Commission recommendations and besides violated the spirit of co-operative federalism. With Bihar elections just round the corner, the fresh controversy over this appointment may gain momentum over in the coming days.
A govt communiqué announced on Saturday afternoon that the President of India had appointed Ram Nath Kovind and Acharya Dev Vrat as the Governors of
Bihar and Haryana respectively. Governor of West Bengal and BJP veteran Keshrinath Tripathi was holding additional charge of Bihar till now.
Kovin, 69, is a senior BJP leader, hails from a Dalit family in Kanpur. A two time Rajya Sabha member, he has also headed the party”s Scheduled Caste Morcha in the past.
Nitish is in Delhi for the weekend to woo Biharis living in Delhi\NCR and connect with the intelligentsia through different events. On hearing of Kovind”s appointment, the CM remarked that ”as per the precedent, the central govt, the home minister talks to the state govt, the chief minister on its….this time there is no consultation. I have got the information from media”.
The JDU statement, however, connected Kovind”s appointment to the demand for President”s Rule in Bihar raised by a couple of MPs including Pappu Yadav in Parliament this week. JDU general secretary and spokesman KC Tyagi alleged that the appointment was ”nothing but an attempt to gain instantaneous political mileage. The Centre is out to destabilise the Bihar govt”, he accused.
NITISH HECKLED
Bihar politics was played out fully in the national capital on Saturday when Nitish Kumar was confronted by a group of hecklers in a public function. As Kumar got up to address the launching of the Delhi chapter of Bihar Foundation, a group of young men claiming to be supporters of Pappu Yadav rose with placards bearing questions about the recent rape of a Dalit girl in the state and other incidents related to law and order. ”Nitishji, first answer what your govt has done about this”, they hollered. The men were quickly whisked away by JDU supporters but not before they made headlines in the media. Nitish acknowledged as much and smilingly remarked that this event would not have found place in news had it not been for the protesting boys.
