New Delhi: Hours before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced his plan to move to the Rajya Sabha, the Bihar administration issued directions restricting media access to the state assembly.
“As per direction, it’s to inform that, regarding programme on 5th March in Bihar Vidhan Sabha, media representatives are not allowed beyond Gate No. 10 of Bihar Vidhan Sabha. Entry from other gates is also prohibited. Coverage can be done from Gate No. 10,” the Patna district administration said in a communication.
The move is being seen as an attempt to shield the CM from media queries about his shift to the Upper House, though government sources said the media restriction was announced keeping in view the security and sensitivity of the nomination event at the assembly. Thursday is the last date for fling nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for 16 March.
PTI reported that Nitish filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha before the Secretary, Bihar Legislative Assembly Office Cell, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and deputy chief ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha.
It’s the first time such media restrictions have been put in place before the filing of nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls.
In the run up to last year’s Bihar assembly election, Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor had alleged that the CM was “mentally unfit” and even challenged that if Nitish could recognise his ministers without any help, he (Kishor) would quit politics.
In recent times, Nitish’s close associates have controlled access to him, with the CM’s frequent gaffes causing embarrassment to the government. Often, he only made brief media appearances or came for photo-ops. Ahead of last year’s polls too, Nitish made limited and abrupt appearances, such as briefly attending the NDA manifesto launch. Then too, he left without interacting with the media.
“What the Indian National Congress was repeatedly saying during the Bihar election campaign has now been proven true. Under a conspiracy hatched by G2, a coup has been carried out in Bihar to seize power. In many ways, this is a major betrayal of the people’s mandate,” senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
Senior RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, reacting to Nitish’s post on X Thursday “seeking to become a member of the Rajya Sabha”, said: “It’s hardly likely that anyone would doubt or hesitate to assume that this post doesn’t sound like Nitish Kumarji’s own voice. There’s a strange, alien echo in the words, as if the sentences were crafted elsewhere and merely recited here.”
According to political experts, the administration’s order restricting media movement at the assembly Thursday is part of the plan to shield Nitish, JD(U) leader, from queries.
“You see, some JD(U) workers are quite upset over the decision, and since it is Holi, most papers don’t have an edition, so the news (of Nitish’s move) was restricted to social media and electronic media only. The idea is to restrict the news as much as possible so that a ‘pro-Nitish movement’ build-up by JD(U) leaders doesn’t happen,” professor Rakesh Ranjan of Patna University told ThePrint.
“In most villages, newspapers are still the main source of information, and by the time they get the information, Nitish Kumar would have already filed his nominations (for Rajya Sabha). Earlier too, there has been an attempt to shield him from the media, and this latest order seems to be along those lines,” he added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)