Patna, Mar 2 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday told the assembly that an "atmosphere of communal harmony" prevailed in the state and he was pleased that the police and the administrative machinery had devoted itself to ensuring the same.

The averment came as part of his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address even as the opposition staged a walkout with its leader Tejashwi Yadav expressing dissatisfaction over the chief minister's reluctance to directly address a communally provocative statement of an MLA of the BJP, which is part of the government.

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The opposition has been scandalised over Bisfi MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul having, last week, said that Muslims showing reluctance to recite the national song ought to be stripped of their voting rights.

Kumar delivered a major part of his speech, over an hour-long, enumerating achievements "since 2005 when we first got an opportunity to serve the people" and frowning upon the opposition's "unwillingness to hear me out".

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Quoting statistics from National Crime Records Bureau, the chief minister claimed that Bihar now had almost negligible instances of communal strife and pointed out efforts by his government, like fencing of graveyards, which nipped disputes in the bud.

Kumar, whom the opposition has been targeting over the alleged mob lynching of a worker of his JD(U) in Samastipur district by suspected cow vigilantes, asserted that the incident had "no communal angle" and all the accused have been put behind bars.

"I wish they (opposition) were here to listen to this. It is so easy to indulge in rhetoric. They have been saying we should give ex-gratia to the bereaved family members. The party is trying to help out the kin of the deceased. But elected representatives would do better to know that only cases under the SC/ST Act warrant a government compensation", the chief minister said.

He was particularly miffed when CPI(ML) MLA Mehboob Alam sought to dispute the government's claim that Bihar had a relatively lower incidence of crimes against women.

"Have some pride for Bihar. And if your party, which has won some seats here this time, has any presence in any other state, compare the data", said Kumar who had, interestingly forged an alliance with the ultra-Left party in the 1990s which was short-lived.

The chief minister also spoke about prohibition, ruing criticisms of the move that keep coming despite the ban on liquor having been imposed, six years ago, with "sarva-sammati" (consent of all).

He also referred to the decision to use drones for nabbing violators of prohibition, which has evoked much bemusement, saying "those who flout the law will not be spared. The aerial watch will not allow them to escape unnoticed".

The chief minister had commenced his address expressing satisfaction over the COVID situation being "under control" in Bihar which was now left with fewer than 300 active cases.

He, nonetheless, stressed that this was not an occasion for laxity and, therefore, a high rate of testing was being maintained despite a drastic decline in fresh cases.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)