Nitish upset as Centre says no to his Nepal visit

Center’s “advisory” to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to not visit Nepal to meet the victims of the earthquake has upset the JD(U) leader.

Center’s “advisory” to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to not visit Nepal to meet the victims of the earthquake has upset the JD(U) leader. The party will raise the issue in Parliament on Tuesday, said Rajya Sabha member KC Tyagi.

The CM wanted to visit the Nepalese town of Janakpur, close to the border with Bihar, to express solidarity with the affected people. “Nitish Kumar was all set to visit Janakpur after Nepal government gave its nod. But Ministry of External Affairs called up Bihar Chief Secretary on Sunday to say that it would not be proper for Nitish Kumar to visit Nepal at this time. It is against the spirit of federalism,” Tyagi said.

Tyagi said that at a time when state governments were helping Nepal, Nitish Kumar had all the more reasons to visit the Himalayan nation because the state shares boundary with it and many people from both the side are related to each other. “This smacks of the politics of BJP,” he said.
BJP dismissed the allegation. “During relief efforts, we should minimise VIP movements. One should not see politics in it,” said BJP.