Bihar minister sends brother to govt function as representative: CM Nitish Kumar disapproves
Patna, Mar 5: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday expressed displeasure over reports of one of his cabinet colleagues deputing a family member as his "representative" to a government function which the minister himself could not attend.
Kumar told the assembly that he read in newspapers about the incident that took place in Hajipur, the district headquarters of Vaishali, and "if it is true, it should not have happened".
The chief minister was intervening in reply to the issue being flagged by RJD MLA Bhai Virendra who questioned the "propriety" of Mukesh Sahni, a newly inducted minister, sending his brother as a representative to the function held on Wednesday by a government vehicle.
Mukesh Sahni, founder of the fledgling Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) | ANI
The function was held to disburse benefits under a scheme introduced by the government under which fishermen belonging to extremely backward classes or SC/ST groups will be getting heavy subsidies for purchase of motor vehicles.
Sahni, founder of the fledgling Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), holds the fisheries portfolio.
As per the scheme run by his department, the government will bear 90 per cent of the expenses incurred towards purchase of cars, three-wheelers or two-wheelers.
At Wednesdays function, more than 20 beneficiaries of the scheme were handed over keys of the vehicles purchased by them and the release issued by the district administration mentioned the presence of "Santosh Sahni, the representative of honourable minister for fisheries and animal husbandry Mukesh Sahni".
Media reports said that Sahni was a brother of the minister and video footage beamed by some local channels showed the "representative" fumbling when asked to name the scheme under which he was giving away the doles.
A former Bollywood set designer who took the political plunge less than three years ago, Mukesh Sahni floated VIP with a view to channelling the numerically strong but politically disorganised Nishad (fishermen) community.
He remained with the Grand Alliance helmed by the RJD- Congress combine for quite some time, quitting it just ahead of the assembly elections after the seat-sharing arrangements left him with a feeling of humiliation.
He was admitted to the NDA after a meeting with top BJP leaders in Delhi and the saffron party accommodated his party by giving it 11 seats out of its own quota.
Four seats were won by VIP, though Sahni himself lost from Simri Bakhtiyarpur.
He was, nonetheless, inducted into the state cabinet and the BJP helped him get elected to the legislative council from a seat vacated by its veteran leader Vinod Narayan Jha who is now an MLA.
Fellow MLC and BJP leader Nawal Kishore Yadav also reacted to the controversy surrounding the minister and told reporters "it is unfortunate. He (Sahni) must avoid such mistakes".
Sources close to Sahni said the minister could not attend the function himself since he was busy with the ongoing assembly session.
People in the know of things say that while a minister sending a "representative" to a function was not without precedent, Sahni had erred in choosing a person who was neither a government official nor an elected representative.
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Uncompromising stand against Bangladesh-origin Muslims swayed votes for NDA: Himanta
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday asserted that his government's "uncompromising stand" in taking steps against Bangladesh-origin Muslims swayed people in favour of the BJP-led NDA in this year's assembly elections, resulting in the alliance securing a two-thirds majority.
He maintained that the NDA's win was a victory for the Assamese indigenous people and affirmed continuing developmental work in the state.
Addressing a press conference, Sarma said, "The double-engine government and unprecedented development the state witnessed in the last five years are among the main reasons for our victory."
"We had assured of securing the Assamese 'jati' (community) and took steps to deliver it. Assam progressed in the cultural and economic sectors. Our uncompromising stand against Bangladesh-origin Muslims also had an impact," he said.
The NDA swept to a third successive term in the state by securing 102 seats in the 126-member state assembly. The BJP won 82 seats, while its allies AGP and Bodoland People's Front bagged 10 each.
On Sarma predicting nearly exact numbers for the alliance before the results, he said the assessment was based on his connect with the people.
"I visited every assembly segment thrice before elections. I have a good mass connect system, which helped in my assessment," he said.
Sarma claimed that recommendations of the Justice (retd) Biplab Sharma committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which deals with constitutional safeguards for the indigenous Assamese population, were implemented by his government.
"It was because of it that the Assamese people won yesterday. It was not just a BJP victory," he asserted.
The CM claimed the NDA secured the support of all sections of people, including Gen Z, which was evident in the young faces fielded by the BJP emerging victorious.
He dismissed the charge that the BJP has an "outsider" among its MLAs, referring to Guwahati Central legislator-elect Vijay Gupta.
"Vijay Gupta is an Assamese. If he is a Bihari, we (ancestors) also came from Kannauj. We all have come from different parts. Mongoloids came from outside, Aryans came from outside. This outsider narrative has been created by you all (media)," Sarma said.
On the Congress' poor poll performance, he maintained that there were very few people in the opposition party who understood the sentiments of the Assamese people.
Otherwise, the Congress would not have brought singer Zubeen Garg's name in its manifesto or levied allegations against an Assamese woman, Sarma added, referring to the opposition party's charges of multiple passports and undisclosed foreign investments of his wife.
The CM also maintained that Raijor Dal could have won four-five seats had it not joined hands with the Congress.
The Congress and Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal were part of a six-party opposition alliance that fought the elections together. Congress won 19 seats and Raijor Dal two, with the other allies drawing a blank.
"If Akhil Gogoi had not made the mistake, Sherman Ali Ahmed would have been his MLA today," Sarma said, referring to the expelled Congress leader who won as a TMC candidate after Raijor Dal refused him a ticket owing to the alliance.
On Gogoi being the only opposition MLA to win from a Hindu-majority seat, Sarma said, "It is the people of Sibsagar who decided who will represent them. On my part, it was the only Hindu majority seat where I didn't go to campaign."
"Akhil Gogoi should be kept in the assembly, else he will create chaos on the streets with his protests," Sarma said.
He also claimed that Gogoi had failed to make a single serious speech in the assembly during his first tenure as MLA and dubbed the Raijor Dal president a "comic relief" when the proceedings get dull.
