Jolted by the electoral setback in the Assembly bypolls and the first major caste-related massacre — 16 OBCs allegedly gunned down by Mahadalit Musahars — during his rule, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has sought to draw a distinction between the BJP in Maharashtra and the Bihar BJP while terming the poll campaign against migrants by the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance as a “non issue”.

Asked to comment about the BJP-Shiv Sena manifesto talking about issuing work permits to check inflow of

migrants to Maharashtra, Kumar said, “It’s a non-issue. Why should I worry about what the BJP is promising in Maharashtra? Our alliance with the BJP is limited to Bihar and there it is a different party. Moreover, BJP leaders in Bihar have criticised it,” Kumar remarked in an interaction with The Indian Express here.

While unwilling to be drawn into the controversy, Kumar when pressed felt that the issue was merely a “political stunt” as it was against the Constitution to stop migrants by issuing work permits. “A Congress government in Punjab had tried a similar thing and it was compelled to withdraw. So there is no need to worry over what the BJP-Sena are writing in the manifesto,” Kumar stated

The reaction comes as a marked change in Kumar’s stand as not long ago all the five MPs of the JD(U) had resigned from the Lok Sabha in protest against the attack against North Indian migrants in Maharashtra without taking ally BJP into confidence. The BJP then was extremely critical of the move and the JD(U) had disregarded it, terming it as an internal matter of their party.

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