PATNA: Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav announced a
Bihar Bandh
on
December 18
against
Nitish Kumar government’s new policies on sand and stone chips on Monday.
Tejashwi made the announcement in the protest march held by
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Patna against the new policies on sand mining and sale of stone chips.
"The new policy of Bihar government is against common man as it has led to an acute crisis of input material in construction sector including sand and stone chips and massive unemployment of labourers. RJD would be observing a Bihar Bandh including
Chakka Jam
across the state on December 18 on this issue," Tejashwi said.
Tejashwi was accompanied by hundreds of RJD workers and senior functionaries including party’s Vice Presidents Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Shivanand Tiwari and Bihar unit President Ramchandra Purbey in the protest march held from Kargil Chowk to party office at Beer Chand Patel Marg.
“We would take this fight to Delhi as well. Thousands of people are unemployed due to faulty policy of the state government. The construction sector is suffering badly and labourers are dying out of hunger. The state government is adamant despite repeated directives from the High Court,” Raghuvansh said.
Purbey on the other hand, said the construction sector is facing crisis from July following “unlawful” restrictions on sand and stone chips imposed by the state government. “RJD legislators raised the issue even in the
State Assembly
but the state government is keeping quite on this crisis. Thousands of labourers are forced to migrate to other states owing to unemployment,” Purbey said.
On being asked about allegations on RJD of sheltering sand mafia, Shivanand Tiwari said, “Those protecting culprits in Srijan, toilet and Dalit Vikas Mission scams have no right to accuse us of protecting scam - accused. Countless scams have happened in
Nitish Government
over the past 12 years. Nitish Kumar is kingpin of all scams.”
JD (U), on the other hand, mocked protests by RJD, stating that Jungle Raj is no longer there in Bihar. “It is quite funny that people in RJD are involved in illegal sand mining and their party is staging dharna against the new policy. RJD wants free hand in illegal sand mining but there is no Jungle Raj in Bihar.They can keep holding dharnas and marches but no relaxation would be allowed for any illegal sand mining,” JD (U) spokesperson
Ajay Alok
said.