In an embarrassment to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, contractual teachers on Thursday waved black flags, threw eggs and slippers and shouted slogans at his public meeting in Bihar’s Begusarai district demanding regularisation of services.
Official sources said a group of protesting teachers suddenly sprung up from among the local people waiting to welcome Kumar on the road to Gandhi stadium, the venue of the public meeting, waved black flags and raised slogans in support of their demands, official sources said.
Some protesters ran waving black flags as Kumar’s motorcade moved past them.
Protesters owing allegiance to NSUI threw slippers at Kumar’s motorcade, protesting against acute power shortage and shouted slogans against the state government.
A large crowd of protesters gathered also at the stadium and raised slogans against the chief minister and threw eggs at the dais on which Kumar and other dignitaries were seated, the sources said.
Securitymen in plainclothes stood in front of the dais and prevented the eggs and other objects being thrown by the protesters from reaching it.
They also lathicharged the protesters to disperse them injuring some of them, including some women.
The pandal, erected for the public meeting, collapsed and about 100 plastic chairs were damaged as protesters tried to escape the lathicharge, the sources added.
It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister has been facing the wrath of contractual teachers from September 19 and the first day of his state-wide tour to address ‘Adhikar Sammelan’ to press for special category status to Bihar.
Addressing the public meeting, Kumar said he was aware at whose behest the protests were being orchestrated against him.
“I know that some people sitting in Patna are orchestrating a vicious campaign against me,” he said and slammed the protesters too saying that these were the people who opposed development of Bihar and wanted lawlessness to prevail.
The chief minister warned his detractors that those inciting protest against him should be ready to face the same music at their political functions even in Patna in future.
He, however, sought to make light of black flags being shown to him by the protesters and said that they perhaps wanted to save him from the ‘evil eye’ of some people.
Earlier, some contractual teachers blocked NH-31 to press for their demand for regularisation of service prompting diversion in the route of the chief minister’s motorcade.
A delegation of the contractual teachers later met Kumar and handed over a memorandum in support of their demands.
Protesting teachers had earlier disrupted his public meetings at Bettiah, Motihari, Madhubani and other venues even as he was shown slippers by protesters at some places.
–PTI