Patna: State education minister Mithilesh Tiwari’s dig at RJD functionary Tejashwi Prasad Yadav over his educational qualifications on Tuesday drew a sharp counter from Jan Suraaj founder and Bankipur MLA Prashant Kishor, who said Tiwari should make a similar suggestion to CM Samrat Choudhary. The exchanges came amid ongoing protests by teacher aspirants with Tiwari claiming the state govt had fulfilled almost all demands raised by the protesters and remained open to dialogue.Tiwari, taking a swipe at Tejashwi, said he was surprised someone who had never appeared for a board examination was offering suggestions on examinations. He challenged Tejashwi to enrol in a Bihar govt school, clear Class X and then offer suggestions on the education system.He also alleged Tejashwi was organising “sponsored” programmes for political gains, claiming students and people of Bihar understood the motive.Targeting Congress functionary Rahul Gandhi, Tiwari alleged he had tried to “mislead and confuse” youths during the recent agitation at Jantar Mantar. He said Gandhi should engage with young functionaries within his own party if he wanted to connect with the youth.Kishor responded by turning Tiwari’s Class X remark towards the CM. Speaking at a Jan Suraaj programme marking former chief minister BP Mandal’s 108th birth anniversary, he said if the education minister had suggested Tejashwi appear for the Matriculation examination, he should make the same suggestion to Choudhary at the next cabinet meeting.Kishor said both Choudhary and Tejashwi should appear for and pass Class 10 so people could have faith in their ability to clear Matriculation on their own.He also criticised the administration over the lathi-charge on protesting teacher aspirants in Patna and said the govt should accept their legitimate demands, including those related to TRE. He attributed growing youth discontent to unemployment, paper leaks, commercialisation of coaching institutes and privatisation of education.On the proposed development of 11 satellite cities, Kishor opposed the plan, alleging it would benefit industrialists and builders at the expense of farmers and trigger further protests over land acquisition.
