JD(U), RJD use Maharashtra's auto licence policy to target Narendra Modi

PATNA: NDA-ruled Maharashtra's autorickshaw policy making knowledge of Marathi mandatory for acquiring a licence has given the Mahagathbandhan a stick to beat its main challenger. JD(U) and RJD say the decision exposes the "true face of Narendra Modi and his party".

Attacking PM Modi for 'silently' supporting the "divisive decision", Lalu taunted that this had exposed "BJP kaa chaal, charitra aur chehra". He called the move an attempt to deny jobs to north Indians in Mumbai.

RJD spokesman Pragati Mehta said "We won't allow such thing." He clarified that even if the Congress-NCP governmenttook the decision in 2013, BJP that talks of unity and federalism shouldn't have implemented it. State JD(U) president Bashishtha Narayan Singh called the decision against the spirit of the Constitution. "BJP leaders, including Modi, talk of unity and federal structure but their government in Maharashtra has taken a decision which will affect lakhs of non-Marathi-speaking people," he said.

"The decision has exposed the divisive policy of BJP and Modi." State Congress vice-president Samir Mahaseth. A JD(U) ticket seeker in Patna decorated his car with Nitish Kumar's photos said the decision was mainly anti-Bihari. "The plan is to force Biharis to leave Maharashtra," he alleged.

The state BJP, on the backfoot because of the decision, also criticized the decision. "State-promoted regionalism is very unfortunate and we are against it," said Vinod Narayan Jha, state BJP spokesman.