Ironically, the protesters all over the district burnt the effigies of none else but Prem Kumar, the urban development minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. As the MLA of Gaya Town Assembly constituency he reportedly lent his support to those who are agitating for the CUB in Gaya. Prem is incidentally the minister-in-charge, Programme Implementation Committee of East Champaran district. The CUB imbroglio has not only divided the NDA but has made it difficult for Prem Kumar to visit Motihari, the district headquarters of East Champaran. A few days back he travelled to Motihari, but that in company of deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi. He got hostile reception there.The Urban Development Minister will have to visit Motihari on April 20 again as CM Nitish Kumar is undertaking Seva Yatra. Black flags would be shown to him by students, it was announced on Tuesday.The agitators in Motihari demanded and end of politics over the issue. They also sought the resignation of Union Human Resources Development Minister, Kapil Sibal.According to reports, NH-28 and NH-28A were blocked at more than 50 points and the rail traffic was disrupted on Muzaffarpur-Raxaul section.

CUB Struggle Committee secretary of Motihari, Rai Sundardeo Sharma, claimed that the movement was successful and peaceful. In Gaya Prem Kumar and all other MLAs of Magadh division, almost all of them of NDA, has come in for sharp criticism for supporting the Bihar Assembly resolution for the establishment of the Central University of Bihar at Motihari not Gaya as proposed by the Union HRD ministry. He also had to face the fury of the pro-CUB activists who, a few days back staged dharna outside his Nai Sadak residence in Gaya. Not surprisingly, in Magadh division people cutting across party lines are all praise for Kapil Sibal for his decision to open CUB in Gaya. Prem, along with the NDA legislators of Gaya district during an interaction with mediapersons in the town, had said that the NDA had no problem with establishment of CUB in Gaya as the Centre had both the money and the land to execute its plan and the state government can do little in the matter. As a minister in the Nitish’s cabinet, Prem’s stand is meaningful. This is the first signal from the ruling NDA that it is fighting a losing battle over the issue. All out of suddent Nitish has started speaking less on the issue of CUB in Motihari, though he is likely to criticize Kapil Sibal during the April 20 Sewa Yatra. The problem with the NDA is that it has taken the battle far too long and can not back out. It has no logic to convince the people of Gaya as to why there should be no CUB there when the land and money both belong to the Centre. After all Kapil Sibal has repeatedly assured Nitish that the Centre would be giving financial support to Bihar to open a state university in Motihari.

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