Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar spoke to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani
With Hindi-speaking migrants fleeing Gujarat in droves to escape attacks, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday appealed to Bihari workers not to leave the western state.
"I would like to request the people not to leave Gujarat in panic. They must stay there firmly, notwithstanding the incidents in a few places," he said in Patna.
The attacks on migrants from Hindi speaking states began after a worker from Bihar was arrested for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in North Gujarat's Sabarkantha district. The rape took place on September 28.
Mr Kumar said that he had a telephonic conversation with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and senior officials of the Bihar government spoke to their counterparts in the western state.
"Our Chief Secretary and DGP are in constant touch with their counterparts in Gujarat. We are keeping a watch on the situation there," he said.
Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has joined other BJP leaders in blaming Congress legislator Alpesh Thakor for the violence.
He alleged that Mr Thakor carried out the violence through "his private army" and demanded that the Congress party take action against him.
"He (Mr Thakor) is spreading hatred and instilling insecurity among North Indians. Gujarat government should arrest him," Mr Modi said, urging his own party's government in Gujarat.
The BJP has been blaming Congress legislator from Radhanpur Alpesh Thakor and his outfit Gujarat Kshatriya-Thakor Sena for the outbreak of violence against Hindi-speaking people in the state.
Meanwhile, Hindi-speaking factory workers continued to leave Gujarat by taking trains or buses. The buses are jam-packed and there are also reports of bus fares being raised given the increased demand.
Some workers said that they were facing threats from locals.
"Some people came to our area last night and asked me to leave the place immediately and go back to my home state. They said they will thrash me if I didn't leave," a migrant worker told the media at Ahmedabad railway station.
Shyam Singh Thakur, president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Parishad, an outfit of north Indians in Gujarat said that more than 60,000 Hindi-speaking migrant labourers have left the state so far.
"More than 60,000 people have left Gujarat, and those who are leaving now are only those who had already decided to go back home," he told Press Trust of India.
However, Mr Thakur added that the workers weren't under threat any longer.
With inputs from Press Trust of India