Youth, peeved at reservation policy, hurls slipper at Nitish Kumar

A youth, unhappy over the non-extension of reservation to poor upper castes, hurled a slipper at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at a function in Patna on Thursday.

The slipper fell short of the dignitaries seated on the dais as part of the JD(U) ‘Chatra Samagam’ (youth convention).

The youth, identified as Chandan Tiwari from Aurangabad district, was immediately whisked away by security personnel, as enraged JD(U) workers started thrashing him, causing commotion in the hall.

Tiwari was protesting against the reservation policy and demanded extension of the quota for poor upper caste youths. He was heard blaming the leaders for the issue.

However, the programme at Bapu Sabhagar, which was attended by state JD(U) president Bashistha Narain Singh, ministers and poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who has joined the party, went on smoothly after the brief commotion.

A series of protests against the re-instatement of SC/ST (Prevention) of Atrocities Act by members of ‘Swarna Sena’ has been taking place in the state during which NDA leaders are being shown black flags.

Incidentally, this is not the first instance when a footwear was hurled at the chief minister. In May 2016, a similar attempt was made during the weekly ‘janata ke durbar mein mukyamantri’ (public interaction) programme where an angry youth, also sharing CM’s name, had hurled a slipper at him.

The youth was peeved at a government advisory, asking people to desist from performing ‘havans’ during ‘yajnas’ between 9 am and 6 pm to prevent outbreak of fire in the sweltering heat wave-like conditions as mercury had soared beyond the 44-degree-centigrade mark.

Today’s programme, a part of pre-poll exercise for women, SC/ST and youths, was organised by the youth wing of the ruling JD(U).

Join politics, strengthen principles: Nitish

While listing out government initiatives for women, weaker sections and youths, chief minister Nitish Kumar exhorted youths to join active politics.

“Your participation in politics is important for infusing fresh blood. Join politics to strengthen the principles you cherish. Your presence will help turning around the unprincipled politics of the day,” he said.

Kumar also took a dig at ‘leaders’ who used politics as a vehicle for amassing wealth for their families, instead of serving the people.

“I entered politics with a view to serve the people. Despite initial electoral hiccup, it was recognised by the people. Since then, they have never hesitated in backing me. Look where their unstinted support has brought me,” he said.

First Published: Oct 11, 2018 21:29 IST