PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Friday threatened to bring Delhi to a halt, if the Arvind Kejriwal government continued to refuse permit to ply the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation’s (BSRTC) luxury buses from Patna to Delhi.

Speaking at an event after launching luxury Volvo bus services from Patna to Ghaziabad, Nitish without naming Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said why he would not grant permit to Bihar buses.

“Delhi is run by working people from Bihar. If people of Bihar living in Delhi make up their mind, they can bring Delhi to a halt. We will personally contact every Bihari living in Delhi and request them to bring Delhi to a halt, if government of NCT of Delhi continues to refuse permit to run the BSRTC’s buses,” Nitish said.

Bihar CM further asked the state’s transport minister Santosh Kumar Nirala to talk “emphatically” with Delhi government and ask why they would not grant permit for running buses in between Patna and Delhi.

Earlier in November 2018, Bihar’s transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal had sent a proposal to Delhi government to run 30 luxury buses from Patna to ISBT, Anand Vihar in Delhi. Delhi government’s transport department initially agreed to Bihar government’s proposal and sent its consent to grant ‘temporary permit’ for running the BSRTC’s luxury buses. But the matter got struck up when the related file went to the Delhi’s transport minister Kailash Gahlot for his approval, sources in Bihar government said.

As Delhi government refused to grant permit, Bihar government decided to run its luxury buses from Patna to Ghaziabad, Buxar to Ghazibad, Nalanda to Ghaziabad and Kishanganj to Ghaziabad via different cities of Uttar Pradesh .

Nitish on Friday launched the inaugural run of luxury Volvo buses on the four routes at a function organised at Adhiveshan Bhavan here.

Speaking on the occasion, Nitish said as to why people of Bihar would not get facility of direct bus services between Patna and Delhi. “Why people of our state will go upto Ghaziabad and Noida only and from there, they would catch another bus for reaching Delhi?” Nitish asked from the audience.

At present, there is no reciprocal agreement between Bihar government and Delhi government under sub-section 5 and 6 of Section 88 of the Motor Vehicle Act. However, sub-section 7 of Section 88 of the Act stipulates that regional transport authority (RTA) of a region can issue a temporary permit. The Delhi’s transport department had initially agreed to issue temporary permit under sub-section 7, sources in Bihar government told TOI on Friday.

