Patna,(BiharTimes): After a day-long flip-flop––may be because of political compulsion––the Patna district magistrate N Saravana Kumar on Monday
night announced that he had decided to allot the entire Gandhi Maidan to BJP for its October 27 Hunkar Rally, in which Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest.
Earlier in the day, ADM (Revenue) Neelkamal had written a letter to state BJP general secretary Suraj Nandan Mehta, allotting just the western half of Gandhi Maidan for the rally as the eastern half would be engaged by education department for a book fair between October 20 and November 11.
Immediately after the letter former deputy chief minster Sushil Kumar Modi strongly protested saying that the party had sought allotment of full Gandhi Maidan several months back when it was still in power and that the district administration had then agreed to do so.
Later in the night the district magistrate N Saravana Kumar clarified that there was some confusion at the lower level. Now, there is no controversy since “I have decided to allot the entire Gandhi Maidan to the BJP as they had applied four months ago. I cannot say if the book fair would be cancelled or not. It is for the education department to take a call.”
The DM said he came to know about the letter of ADM on Monday evening and decided to allow the full use of Gandhi Maidan for the BJP rally.
But Sushil Modi said that it was not the confusion at the lower-level but there was a plan to create hurdle at the highest level, that is by chief minister Nitish Kumar. He said the state government wanted to sabotage the rally and prevent it from becoming a grand success.
Meanwhile, Education Minister P K Shahi said that an announcement was made last year about hosting a book fair in Gandhi Maidan from October 20 to November 11. But the department has not yet received any proposal from any organisation so far for hosting the event. He said he was unaware of what the district magistrate had ordered.
Political observers are surprised over the U-turn by the state government on the day when chief minister Nitish Kumar told the media that the former BJP ministers can stay in their ministerial bungalow till they wish and that the issue should not be made a subject of dispute.
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