Days after Lalu's offer, comes a snub from Nitish Kumar
Patna, Jan 5: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the RJD, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad, stating that he had forged alliances "by mistake" with the opposition party which "did nothing" while in power.
The JD(U) supremo made the remark days after Prasad, a former CM himself, had claimed that the RJD was keeping its "doors open" for the former ally, who is now back in the BJP-led NDA.
Talking to reporters in the north Bihar district of Muzaffarpur, as part of a state-wide Pragati Yatra, Kumar said, "Those who were in power before us... did they do anything? People used to fear stepping out of their homes after sunset. I had by mistake ('galti se') aligned with them a couple of times."
"What was the condition of women back then? Today you can see these self-help groups, which we gave the name Jivika. The Centre replicated our model and called it Ajivika. Did you see such confident rural women earlier," asked the longest-serving CM of the state.
Kumar, however, did not take questions about the cryptic "offer" from Prasad, which was made light of by the RJD supremo's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, but endorsed by ally Congress.
Prasad's comments had come in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's equivocal stance on projecting Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls due in less than a year.
State BJP leaders, on their part, have been maintaining that the JD(U) supremo will be the "face" of the NDA in the 2025 assembly elections.
The BJP, which fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, depends on allies like JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to survive in power at the Centre.
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HC seeks govt reply on tourist vehicles blocking tigress' path in Maharashtra sanctuary
Nagpur (PTI): The Bombay High Court has taken a dim view of an incident where safari vehicles carrying tourists obstructed the movement of a tigress and her cubs in Maharashtra's Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Sanctuary on New Year's eve.
Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi of the HC's Nagpur bench on Monday issued notice to the state's principal chief conservator of forests and sought a detailed affidavit on action taken and preventive measures.
The bench will hear the plea on Wednesday.
In the viral videos of the December 31, 2024 incident, safari vehicles are seen crowding around the tigress, identified as F-2, and her five cubs from both sides of a road in the buffer zone of the sanctuary here to help tourists capture their photos and videos.
The HC took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the videos and news reports on the incident.
The state forest department on Monday suspended four drivers and guides involved in the incident for three months.
A fine of Rs 25,000 has also been imposed on the gypsy SUV drivers, while nature guides have been fined Rs 1,000 each. Besides, cases have been registered against them under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Pench Tiger Reserve (Nagpur) deputy director Prabhu Nath Shukla in a release said the tourists violated the sanctuary's rule by blocking the path of the tigress F2 and her five cubs with multiple safari vehicles at Gothangaon in Kuhi wildlife range.
Tourists involved in this incident have been permanently banned from future visits to the sanctuary and a committee, headed by the deputy director, Bor Tiger Reserve, has been constituted to recommend measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
Shukla stated that field officers and staff have been instructed to increase regular patrolling along safari routes to prevent such incidents. Additionally, special meetings and workshops are being organised for nature guides and gypsy drivers to raise awareness and sensitivity toward ecotourism.
