The police officer who issued the circular may face action.
New delhi: The issue of Bihar Police’s Special Branch seeking information about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has put Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a defensive mode. It has also widened the gap between his Janata Dal United (JDU) and coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has crept in after the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said Nitish Kumar is trying to distance himself and his government from the entire controversy and thus blame is likely to be put on the officer of the Special Branch who issued the circular. Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) issued it on 28 May, two days before the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister for a second term. The officer in question is no longer with the Special Branch now and is currently in police training.
However, sources say that such a circular cannot be issued without the knowledge of the Chief Minister, who heads the home department. The Special Branch is the intelligence wing of the police and briefs the Chief Minister on various sensitive issues.
Sources said that after a hue and cry made by BJP leaders over the issue, Nitish Kumar has directed the state DGP, Home Secretary, ADG (CID) to act against the police officer/s responsible for issuing the letter without informing the department. So far, police headquarters have maintained that the letter was issued without the knowledge of the top police officers. A source said that after preliminary investigation, it was found that the letter was sent by the SP on his own, and no other officer had knowledge of it.
The letter had directed deputy SPs to collect names, addresses, phone numbers and profession of office-bearers of RSS residing in their areas within a week. The SP had also asked to give information related to other RSS affiliates. The source said the government was waiting for the SP’s reply. However, he said, the manner in which the letter was worded, is “objectionable”.
This was not liked by the BJP for which RSS is the ideological mentor. BJP MLC and party’s media cell in-charge Sanjay Mayukh raised the issue in the Legislative Council, who urged the state government to clarify the issue. “I am astonished that the government is seeking such information. The government should have had the information now since Sangh activists are not known to be secretive. They function in a very transparent manner,” he said.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, an RSS official said: “Our activities are quite transparent and our volunteers are known to people in their respective areas. What is the need to take so much pain to gather information about them? They (Bihar Police) could have asked us for the details and we would have provided it to them happily. We made such lists so many times. We would have done it one more time.”
Asked whether RSS doubted the intentions of the government behind issuing such a letter, he said: “We are not bothered, frankly. That is why we have not made any statement in this regard till now. We just focus on our activities and that is what matters for us.”
However, Union Minister Giriraj Singh attacked the Chief Minister and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi.
“Sushil Modi and Nitish Kumar should explain as to how, without their permission, such a decision was taken,” Singh said. He said everyone has failed to understand the reason behind the letter.
“In Bihar, the government is run by JDU and BJP; RSS is our main organisation and Sushil Modi is Deputy Chief Minister. He should be asked as to how it happened. What was the motive behind such a move and why the need arose to gather information on state functionaries of the RSS,” Singh said.
Singh also taunted Nitish Kumar, saying how it was possible that such a big decision was taken without his permission. It is a matter of probe. W”hat happened was objectionable, party workers and leaders as well as people are angry about it,” he added.
Ruling JDU leader Dilip Singh strongly reacted against Singh, saying he should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in this connection.
The relationship between the two parties has soured ever since the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced. The two parties, along with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), bagged 39 out of 40 seats in the state. However, Nitish Kumar refused to join the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, saying JDU was being offered a symbolic representation which was not commensurate with its strength in Parliament.
Kumar had snapped his 17-year-old ties with the BJP in 2013, but returned to the NDA fold in 2017 after a short-lived alliance with the Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal.