11 May, 2007
PATNA: The remarks of Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday blaming the people from UP and Bihar for increasing the problems of the metro drew flak from the ruling JD(U) and its students’ wing in Bihar on Thursday. Incidentally, Bihari job seekers have been in recent times on the firing line of Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Ulfa militants in Assam. Also, while Bihari labourers were gunned down by separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihari examinees were the target of physical attack in Andhra Pradesh. Dikshit’s remark comes close on the heels of the recent municipal elections there in which her party, Congress, was routed. Herself a migrant to Delhi from Uttarakhand (earlier part of UP), Dikshit later clarified that she had been misrepresented and quoted out of context. Any Bihari having average knowledge about the social profile of Delhi is aware that Bihari drivers have been running the autos and rickshaws apart from selling goods along roadsides and engaging themselves in the massive construction work going on in and around Delhi. The Bihari presence in Delhi has not been much affected by the Supreme Court order earlier which asked the factories in Delhi to close down or shift elsewhere. Besides, Delhi’s bureaucracy and academic institutions have a large number of Biharis, and Biharis have also been influencing the electoral calculations which earlier used to be done by the "refugees" or those displaced and settled there during post-partition riots of 1946. Also, it is often asked in Delhi’s academic circles: "Take out Biharis from Delhi, and what is left here?" While the context of Dikshit’s remarks is understandable, the Bihar leaders reacted on her remarks on Wednesday itself. On Thursday, JD(U) leaders, as also their students’ wing, took up the matter again. State information and public relations minister Arjun Rai, camping in Delhi, said her remarks have not only "insulted" UP and Bihar, but also "reflected the mindset of the Congress leaders." Rai said the Supreme Court has made "serious observations" on her work and style of functioning and she is apparently trying to deflect public attention from her failures. "She appears to be moving backwards when the country is moving forward," he added. Members of the Chhatra JD(U), led by Rakesh Kumar Yadav, burnt the effigy of Dikshit outside the main gate of Patna University administrative block.
PATNA: The remarks of Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday blaming the people from UP and Bihar for increasing the problems of the metro drew flak from the ruling JD(U) and its students’ wing in Bihar on Thursday. Incidentally, Bihari job seekers have been in recent times on the firing line of Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Ulfa militants in Assam. Also, while Bihari labourers were gunned down by separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihari examinees were the target of physical attack in Andhra Pradesh. Dikshit’s remark comes close on the heels of the recent municipal elections there in which her party, Congress, was routed. Herself a migrant to Delhi from Uttarakhand (earlier part of UP), Dikshit later clarified that she had been misrepresented and quoted out of context. Any Bihari having average knowledge about the social profile of Delhi is aware that Bihari drivers have been running the autos and rickshaws apart from selling goods along roadsides and engaging themselves in the massive construction work going on in and around Delhi. The Bihari presence in Delhi has not been much affected by the Supreme Court order earlier which asked the factories in Delhi to close down or shift elsewhere. Besides, Delhi’s bureaucracy and academic institutions have a large number of Biharis, and Biharis have also been influencing the electoral calculations which earlier used to be done by the "refugees" or those displaced and settled there during post-partition riots of 1946. Also, it is often asked in Delhi’s academic circles: "Take out Biharis from Delhi, and what is left here?" While the context of Dikshit’s remarks is understandable, the Bihar leaders reacted on her remarks on Wednesday itself. On Thursday, JD(U) leaders, as also their students’ wing, took up the matter again. State information and public relations minister Arjun Rai, camping in Delhi, said her remarks have not only "insulted" UP and Bihar, but also "reflected the mindset of the Congress leaders." Rai said the Supreme Court has made "serious observations" on her work and style of functioning and she is apparently trying to deflect public attention from her failures. "She appears to be moving backwards when the country is moving forward," he added. Members of the Chhatra JD(U), led by Rakesh Kumar Yadav, burnt the effigy of Dikshit outside the main gate of Patna University administrative block.
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