In Nitish Kumar’s daily niggles with ally BJP, a new point of conflict has emerged. The Bihar Chief Minister has shot off a furious letter to the centre on a decision to shift an iconic British-era institute from his state to Uttar Pradesh.
The Indian Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering will be shifted from Jamalpur in Bihar to UP capital Lucknow, the Railways Ministry decided recently.
Mr Kumar, in a letter, has asked Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal to intervene in what he calls a regressive move.
The letter, sent on May 1, says the 132-year-old institute represents the rich legacy of the railways as well as Bihar.
As Union Railways Minister, Mr Kumar had focused a lot on refurbishing the institute, which trains those who qualify as engineers in the civil services.
The letter, and the brewing dispute, was confirmed in a series of tweets by Bihar minister Sanjay Jha, considered close to the Chief Minister and someone who played a big role in Mr Kumar’s decision to reembrace the BJP in 2017 after dumping Lalu Yadav.
Mr Jha tagged the Prime Minister’s Office and Piyush Goyal in his tweets, conveying Mr Kumar’s view that the move is unacceptable and in a way that is non-negotiable.
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