'Shivraj Thackeray': MP CM says don't need Bihari labourers, backs off after outrage

Sat, Nov 7 06:48 AM

The BJP's Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan echoed Raj Thackeray this week, telling a crowd in Satna that he would not allow "Biharis" to usurp jobs in the area.

"Karkhana lagega Satna mein aur naukri karne aayenge Bihar se, ye hum honey nahin denge," (Factories will be set up in Satna, but people from Bihar will get jobs in them, I won't allow this) Chouhan told a 'Garib Utthan' (Uplift of the Poor) rally on Thursday.

The chief minister said he had asked factories to employ local people. "They will have to train local youths and employ them," he said.

The statement provoked sharp responses from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, following which Chouhan backtracked.

"All I meant was that local people should be given priority over outsiders," he clarified in Indore on Friday, adding that he had not meant any offence to Biharis.

In a letter to Chouhan, Nitish said: "Your statement regarding not employing Biharis in Madhya Pradesh is very objectionable. The people of the country enjoy a fundamental right to find a job in any part of the country on the basis of their talents and abilities.

"I request you to keep opening up job opportunities to people of all states and cooperate with them and ensure their safety," Nitish wrote.

He refrained, however, from criticizing Chouhan in public. The BJP is a part of Nitish's government in Bihar. No BJP leader in Bihar was willing to comment on Chouhan's statement.

Lalu said Chouhan had "a narrow mind", and had "insulted Bihar's sentiments".

State Congress chief Suresh Pachauri said the CM's comments were "parochial" and "divisive". Party spokesman KK Mishra said, "It seems Raj Thackeray's soul has entered Shivraj Singh Chouhan's body."

The BJP has been searching for a thread to unite residents of Madhya Pradesh, where the general impression is that most people don't identify with the state because they don't have a stake in it. "Unlike Maharashtra and Gujarat, the residents of Madhya Pradesh don't feel passionately about their state," Chouhan said recently.

Chouhan's government has recently come up with a 'Madhya Pradesh Song'. A weeklong programme organized to mark the state's foundation day on November 1 will conclude Saturday.

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