In a fresh move, Nitish on Sunday inaugurated Sriram Janaki Medical College and Hospital in Samastipur district—perhaps the first such medical institute in the state named after the Lord Ram family.JD(U) leaders claimed the institute was named after Lord Ram and Sita since the land of the institute was donated by Sriram Janaki Trust.
“Not only its naming but also its inauguration just ahead of Ramlalla idol’s consecration ceremony at Ayodhya holds a lot of meaning. This is in line with the general mood of the country and an astute politician like Nitish has rightly timed this function,” commented a political analyst.
The inauguration of this medical college quickly followed the Nitish Kumar government’s Saturday night decision to shift the controversial RJD minister Chandra Shekhar from education to the insignificant sugarcane ministry. Chandra Shekhar, who is a minister from RJD quota, had been constantly targeting Hindu religious book Ramcharitmanas composed by Tulsidas. His removal from the education ministry is being interpreted by many as an attempt to keep the Hindu voters in good humour ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
During an event organised in September last year to mark Hindi diwas, the education minister had triggered storms by likening Ramcharitmanas to “potassium cyanide”, a highly toxic chemical. “There are many great things in scriptures but if at a feast 55 dishes are served with a sprinkling of potassium cyanide, the food is rendered unfit for consumption. Will you eat it? So, my objection is there and will be there for the rest of my life,” was how Chadra Shekhar was quoted as saying at the function.
Prior to that the minister had alleged the Hindu religious books and scriptures had been creating hatred in the society. “The Ramcharitmanas talks against imparting education to the low-caste persons saying they will become poisonous after getting education the way snakes turn venomous after sipping milk,” was how the education minister had said, addressing the 15th convocation of the Nalanda Open University on January 11 last year.
Right at the same time, the Grand Alliance partners, especially the JD(U), have tried hard to make “neglect” of Goddess Sita a key issue, blaming the BJP for focusing only on Ram. If Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram, Punaura Dham in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district happens to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita.
“The BJP has been busy in doing political marketing of Ram but has no time to think about Goddess Sita. Punaura Dham also deserves a grand temple for Goddess Sita but the BJP looks hardly concerned,” the JD(U) has been saying all along. Analysts describe it as an attempt to counter the possible damage caused by construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.
“Nitish Kumar is a kind of leader who changes his colour in accordance with the season but nothing is going to help him. The fact is that he has been forced to play on the pitch of Hindutva,” state BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said, questioning the rationale behind shifting Chandra Shekhar from the Education ministry so late. “Now that the entire country has turned ‘Rammay’, Nitish is playing ‘nautanki’ but that won’t help him,” Sharma said.
The JD(U) denied Nitish had turned to “soft Hindutva” claiming “Nitish is for everybody”. “Nitish has never acted as a Hindu leader only. He is for everybody, not for a particular segment,” JD(U)’s national spokesperson Rajib Ranjan explained. Stating that Nitish is a “socialist by conviction”, Ranjan claimed the chief minister had taken care of every caste and community.
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