Patna, Feb 13 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday expressed surprise over the Centre’s decision to shift Governor Phagu Chauhan barely three and a half years after being sworn in, even as he maintained that he had no reservations about who occupies the Raj Bhavan.
Kumar disclosed that he received the information from Union Home Minister Amit Shah two days ago that Chauhan, who was being transferred to Meghalaya, shall be replaced by Himachal Pradesh counterpart Rajendra Arlekar.
“The (Union) home minister telephoned me the day before yesterday. I said it is fine and called up the outgoing governor. The gentleman had been here for only three and a half years. It must have been about 25 years since a governor had a full five-year tenure in Bihar,” said Kumar, who is the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
“Be that as it may, we have no issues with whoever comes as governor,” added the JD(U) leader, who was replying to queries about the development from journalists in Aurangabad district which he visited as part of his state-wide ‘Samadhan Yatra’, a mass outreach programme.
Notably, Kumar had dumped the BJP last year and formed a new government with RJD, Congress and outside support of the Left. Nonetheless, the state has not witnessed a stand-off between the new government and Chauhan, a dyed in the wool BJP man, unlike many other parts of the country.
According to Raj Bhavan sources, Arlekar, a senior BJP leader hailing from Goa, was likely to reach here for his new assignment this week.
Earlier, Kumar had toured Rohtas district where he sneered at claims of Union ministers Pashupati Kumar Paras and Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, both of whom have formerly served in his cabinet, that the Mahagathbandhan government would soon fall on account of internal contradictions.
“Let them enjoy themselves with the thought. I don’t take notice of what these people say,” quipped Kumar in response to queries from journalists.
The NDA, which has been sore over the exit of Kumar which also deprived the BJP-led coalition of power in Bihar, has been insisting that the RJD, which wants its young leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief minister, will try to muscle its way through.
Moreover, the revolt within the JD(U) from its former parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha, who has refused to accept Yadav as the leader of the future, has exacerbated the situation.
Meanwhile, there was some commotion in Aurangabad at one of the functions attended by the chief minister when an onlooker flung a chair at no one in particular. The rickety chair came apart mid-air and one of the pieces dropped a few feet from the Chief Minister, injuring no one.
A section of the media claims that the chair was hurled at Kumar, though the administration has denied it. No person has been held in connection with the unsavoury incident so far. PTI CORR NAC NN NN
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