TIL Desk/National/Patna/ Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday frowned upon the Sangh Parivar’s concept of India as a “Hindu” nation, underscoring that this militated against what Mahatma Gandhi stood for. The veteran socialist leader, who ended his long alliance with the BJP last year, was responding to queries from journalists about the “Hindu rashtra” clamour, which was openly endorsed earlier this week by his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath.
“We must not listen to anything that goes against what Bapu stood for. In this country, people of all religions live together. Bapu stood for unity and this was the reason for his assassination”, said Kumar, who draws inspiration from the Mahatma’s views in formulating his ideas of governance. The chief minister also warned that any deviation from Gandhi’s insistence on secularism could lead to perversions (jo isse kuchh alag karna chahta hai, vo ulta pulta karna chahta hai).
A product of the Bihar movement of 1974, Kumar had aligned with the BJP way back in the 1990s and held important portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The longest serving CM assumed power in Bihar in 2005 and his rule has been marked by a refusal to give in to the BJP’s “Hindutva” plank despite alliance.
