Freebies, jobs to women; lathis, denial of opportunities to men in poll

The general perception in the media is that a sizeable percentage of women are still inclined towards Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. What is not discussed in our television studios and Op-ed columns of the newspapers is that a big chunk of men hold an opposite view on their prohibition policy and the state government’s decision to give 35% reservation to women in all its jobs.

Of late, almost every day, these men are being lathi-charged by the police in Patna as they are either demanding the filling of thousands of vacancies or an end to contractual jobs. On September 15, sub-inspector and constable aspirants were badly thrashed by the police when they were on the way to the chief minister’s bungalow demanding filling of vacant posts. Many of these agitating youths are now often seen