Nitish govt befooling Muslims in Bihar, claims RJD

Main opposition in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal, on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of implementing a "secret agenda" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha by "cheating and befooling" Muslims in the state.

"Nitish Kumar and RSS have a tacit understanding... Being an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, the chief minister is sitting on RSS' lap and is implementing the secret agenda of RSS," RJD deputy leader in the state assembly Shakeel Ahmed Khan told mediapersons.

Newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP Ramkripal Yadav supported the charge.

An inordinate delay in acquisition of land for Aligarh Muslim University in Kishanganj, tardy implementation of schemes under Multi Sectoral Development Programme, denial of appointment of Urdu teachers and apathy towards implementation of welfare schemes for Muslims have exposed the RSS agenda of Kumar, the two leaders claimed.

Under the Multi Sectoral Development Plan, the Nitish government sought sanctioning of projects worth Rs 525 crore, of which the Centre has cleared projects worth Rs 244 crore and released Rs 125 crore as first instalment, Khan said.

The state government had allegedly failed to utilise the first installment as it spent only Rs 13 crore for the welfare projects which was just 11 per cent of the amount sanctioned, he added.

The state government has failed to utilise funds for construction of 7,256 houses under Indira Awas Yojana and proper implementation of Multi Sectoral Development Programme, launched in Bihar for achieving an all-round development of minorities, Khan alleged.

To substantiate his charge, he said the Rabri Devi government had in 2003 decided to appoint 35,000 teachers and, out of them, 12,762 teachers were proposed to be appointed for Urdu.

"Now the guidelines laid down by the state government for filling up the vacancies can facilitate appointment of hardly 5,000 Urdu teachers," Khan said.

He also alleged that the state government has a "lackadaisical" attitude towards acquisition of land for Aligarh Muslim University in Kishanganj.

While West Bengal and Kerala have provided 400 acres of land for AMU centre, the Bihar government acquired only 250 acres -- "far from the National Highway, scattered plotwise and litigated," Khan claimed.