Energy minister Saurabh Patel to visit Bihar, invite Nitish Kumar to see Statue of Unity

Energy minister Saurabh Patel said on Tuesday that he will go to Bihar to invite the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to visit the Statue of Unity after October 22.

Patel refuted the reports that said he had cancelled his visit to Bihar because Nitish Kumar had declined to grant him time in view of exodus of migrants, including a large number from Bihar, from Gujarat in the past few days.

"Durga Puja is going on and it is a big festival in Bihar. A holiday-like atmosphere prevails there, and it was felt that it would be better if the Gujarat delegation visits Bihar only after the festival is over, i.e. after October 22," Saurabh Patel said in a statement.

DNA had reported in its October 16 edition that Saurabh Patel had received intimation from Nitish Kumar to cancel his visit. A government source attributed the same to the political situation in Bihar over the exodus of migrant workers in large numbers from Gujarat.

Patel, who is on a two-day visit to Karnataka, met the state's Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, and invited him to visit the Statue of Unity, which is slated to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31. Invitation was also extended to Karnataka governor Vaju Vala, the state government said in a communique.

The state government has deployed ministers to visit different states and to invite CMs and governors to visit the statue. Yesterday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was in Lucknow, where he extended the invitation to Yogi Adityanath.