Bihar to Send Team of Officials to Investigate Reports of ‘Attacks’ on Bihari Migrant Workers in Tamil Nadu

Patna: After drawing flak from the Opposition over reports of alleged attacks on Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu, the Bihar government has decided to send a team of officials to Tamil Nadu on March 4 to investigate the reports.

According to officials in the Chief Minister’s Office, Nitish Kumar, who is yet to comment on this issue that rocked the state Assembly for the past two days, has asked the chief secretary and DGP to send the team of officials to the Southern state.

The BJP caused a ruckus in the state Assembly on Thursday and Friday over the alleged attacks. Shouting slogans, BJP MLAs and MLCs staged protests inside as well as outside the state Assembly. They also trooped to the well, disrupted the Assembly proceedings and started throwing reporters’ chairs – ignoring an appeal by Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary to return to their seats.

Initially, the ruling Mahagathbandhan MLAs and MLCs tried to downplay the reports of attacks on Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. This was due to the claim by Tamil Nadu DGP that there were no such attacks and video clips that went viral on social media were “false and mischievous”.

However, the leader of opposition, Vijay Kumar Sinha, repeatedly alleged that the DGP was lying and reports of attacks were factual. BJP was supported by its ally Chirag Paswan of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Upendra Kushwaha, who quit Kumar's JD-U last month and is likely to join hands with BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Most of the local Hindi dailies have reported the alleged attacks on Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu by quoting some workers, narrating their struggle to survive.

RJD leader and deputy chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday reiterated the Tamil Nadu DGP’s statement in the state Assembly. He even dared the BJP to get the matter investigated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs if they did not have faith in his words.

Tejashwi said that the narrative of violence against Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu is a part of the BJP's false propaganda and requested the Speaker to take action against BJP MLAs for their unruly behaviour inside the Assembly. The Speaker then asked the parliamentary affairs minister, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, to advise him on likely action against errant members.

Former chief minister and RJD MLC Rabri Devi, who is the mother of Tejashwi, said that BJP has been targeting Tejashwi to defame him in the name of a fake incident. “This is far from the truth that Bihari migrant workers were attacked in Tamil Nadu. It is a part of the BJP's propaganda to create tension. BJP is deliberately trying to play dirty politics to defame Tejashwi who visited Tamil Nadu two days ago to attend the birthday celebration of Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin. BJP has been conspiring to create a false image of Bihar and Biharis since Mahagathbandhan formed government in August last year and BJP was ousted from power," she claimed.

Thousands of migrant workers, including unskilled, skilled, and professionals from Bihar have been working in Tamil Nadu and other states across the country. However, the state government has no official records.