Patna, Jan 21 (Inditop.com) Leaders from Bihar cutting across party lines — and including Lalu Prasad, Sushil Kumar Modi and Ram Vilas Paswan — Thursday slammed the Congress government in Maharashtra for making it mandatory for taxi drivers to henceforth be domiciled in the state and to be able to read, write and speak Marathi.
The Congress government in Maharashtra was going the way of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray, a furious Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad said, a day after the Maharashtra government’s move.
“The Congress government in Maharashtra is authoritarian, regional and parochial. It has exposed itself by its latest decision,” the former railway minister said, adding that the decision was aimed at harassing the hard working people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who had made the city their home.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the Maharashtra government’s decision was against the constitution.
“It is nothing but a conspiracy to torture Hindi-speaking north Indian taxi drivers in Mumbai,” Modi said.
Added Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan: “A state government cannot stop any one from working on basis of language and domicile status. It is in bad taste.”
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has not reacted over the issue. BJP MP and Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha also refused to say anything on this controversial issue.
The move would effectively debar a large majority of people from outside Maharashtra, especially north Indians, for whom a quick and lucrative employment option is plying taxis in the city.
