Grand Alliance running well under Nitish Kumar; BJP jittery: Tejashwi Yadav

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi returned to Patna on Sunday evening amid war of words between RJD and JD(U) over the education department imbroglio that has continued for over a week

Bihar deputy CM and RJD leader, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, has rubbished claims of a rift between the two key constituents of the Grand Alliance (GA), RJD and JD(U), saying it was BJP’s “old game” to spread political rumours.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap on the first day of the monsoon session of assembly in Patna on Monday. (PTI Photo)

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi returned to Patna on Sunday evening amid war of words between RJD and JD(U) over the education department imbroglio that has continued for over a week.

Ahead of the monsoon session beginning on Monday, the return of the RJD leaders is being seen as an attempt to sort out differences.

“Whenever we defeat the BJP in Bihar and make them run, they take recourse to chargesheet and raids by misusing federal agencies. This is an old game of the BJP.

It does not make any difference to us,” Tejashwi said on arrival in Patna.

“Bihar government is functioning strongly under Nitish Kumar’s leadership. The Grand Alliance has been formed to protect the country and the Constitution and we could move on the path of progress,” he added.

Attacking the federal agencies, Tejashwi questioned where they were for the last six years. “Everyone knows BJP’s double yardstick. Some people were corrupt for the BJP in Maharashtra, but as soon as they joined the NDA everything was clean and one became the deputy CM. They suddenly became Harishchandra. It is a ploy to malign the image. More, they use these tactics, the more the Bihar people will reply to them. What the BJP is doing is a sign of fear and restlessness,” he added.

The deputy CM said the BJP was spreading rumours that all was not well in the GA but there was no truth in it

“Media is also behaving like the IT cell of the BJP to create the non-existent possibility of a split in the GA but nothing will happen. BJP has started fearing Laluji before the united Opposition could start surgery. Once the surgery starts, BJP will have no place to hide,” he added.

Education minister Chandra Shekhar has not attended office ever since he met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday, but additional chief secretary (education), KK Pathak

continues to work with the department issuing directions to not just schools but also universities and colleges.

After warning school teachers against using WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Saturday, Pathak has also appointed officers for inspection of colleges and universities to oversee academic work, attendance of teachers and non-teaching staff, auditing of accounts, cash book reconciliation, information about self-financing courses being run by universities and cleanliness and condition of campus facilities.

In an order issued by secretary Baidyanath Yadav, the department has deputed seven officers for supervision and inspection of universities and colleges on 13 laid down parametres.

In the order issued by Yadav, the department has deputed seven officers to supervise and inspect universities and colleges on 13 laid down parameters.

A delegation of the Federation of University Teachers Association of Bihar (FUTAB) last week had met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar -- who is also the Chancellor of state universities -- and submitted a memorandum questioning the move of the education department to seek an attendance report from all the colleges and universities daily.

Maintaining that it was against the spirit of the autonomy of universities, FUTAB working president KB Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar, MLC, said that a similar move had been initiated in 2009 but was withdrawn in 2010 after the Chancellor’s office took notice and ordered all the universities to take directions only from the Raj Bhawan in academic and administrative matters, as per the provisions laid down in the Acts governing the universities.

Earlier, Pathak had also written to the officer on special duty, judicial, Raj Bhawan, about the need to put on hold the four-year degree courses with a choice-based credit system (CBCS), but the universities have so far gone ahead with the statutes and ordinance approved by the Raj Bhawan to implement it from this session.