Biju Janata Dal chief whip in the Lok Sabha Tathagat Satpathy has moved a notice questioning the Narendra Modi government’s handling of ties with Nepal.
Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who has engaged with the Madhesi agitators on the Nepal-Bihar border, also termed the Centre’s approach “inept.”
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Mr. Satpathy, who had travelled to Nepal on a holiday last year, had written a letter to the Prime Minister in November 2015, highlighting the consequences of India’s handling of the Madhesi issue.
“Responsible and senior officials in your government, when I asked them about Nepal, expressed dismay and displeasure as to why the country dared to change the fundamentals of their Constitution without discussing with India. I wonder if our Ministry of External Affairs [MEA] pundits can dare speak in a similar fashion say, about Bangladesh or Myanmar, not to speak of Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Should we be perceived as a bully by another, ... is a question you have to ponder.”
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Mr. Singh said the government should have been more sensitive to not just the humanitarian crisis in the wake of the Madhesi agitation but also mindful of the special place Nepal holds in India’s relations with the world.
“We have both roti aur beti ka rishta [commensality and consanguinity] with Nepal. Are we ready for China to step into our shoes? We should have been more alert, we reacted late to the Constitution, and the blockade policy was also mishandled,” the RJD leader said.