Patna: A day after attending the Iftar party hosted by the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Rabri Devi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar paid tribute to the great freedom fighter Babu Veer Kunwar Singh.
Ahead of Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state, he went to Babu Veer Kunwar Singh park and paid tribute at the freedom fighter’s statue, surprising the BJP as the latter has been preparing to organise a mega event in Jagdishpur to commemorate the great icon.
The BJP is organising this event to prove its power to the Janata Dal (United) and the RJD in Bihar. Jagdishpur, which is 70 km away from Patna, is the birth place of Babu Veer Kunwar Singh in Bhojpur district where Amit Shah is coming to commemorate him as part of the “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations to mark India’s 75 years of independence.
However, political analysts believe that this move by the BJP is to gain the support of the upper caste Rajputs in Bihar especially after a large section of Bhumihars shifted towards the RJD which was proved in the recently concluded Bochahan by-election.
Bochahan in Muzaffarpur district is a Bhumihar dominant constituency which supported RJD candidate Amar Paswan. He won the by-election by a big margin of over 36,000 votes, defeating BJP candidate Bebi Kumari.
“Our government has taken many initiatives in respect of our great freedom fighter Babu Veer Kunwar Singh. I believe that he should get respect at the national level. In Bihar, there is a university named after Babu Veer Kunwar Singh in Arrah. We have also named a bridge after him and remember that he was the one who started the freedom struggle in 1857,” Kumar said.
