Patna: When Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005, he introduced government-funded boundary walls around Muslim graveyards numbering over 8,000 in the state.

The graveyards had been a source of social tension with the charge that they had been encroached upon during the Lalu-Rabri regime. The scheme had won Nitish instant admiration from the minorities, which was reflected in the 2010 Assembly polls. Narendra Modi had still not made it to the national political arena, yet a section of Muslims voted for Nitish despite the Dal alliance with the BJP, giving him an unprecedented 206 of the 243 Assembly seats.

After 2015, while against the BJP, the Nitish government introduced boundary walls around temples to curtain BJP's Hindu cards. The result triggered a flood in demand for boundary walls.

On Monday, MLAs raised half-a-dozen questions in the Assembly, demanding boundary walls around graveyards in their constituencies.

Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav got tired giving the same reply. "A district-level committee comprising the local DM and SP has to select the graveyard. The graveyard mentioned by the MLA is not on the committee list," he remarked. "The scheme was for graveyards in sensitive areas. There appears to be a new trend in MLAs demanding boundary walls over each graveyard," said Bijendra.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was present, said when he came to power, he got a survey done. he graveyards have been selected on a priority basis. Graveyards located in areas, which have an equal population of two communities, have been selected. Others can wait. <>If the MLAs want to build boundary walls with their own development funds, they can. But I would suggest that they take up the graveyards on the priority list."

A BJP MLA raised the issue of a boundary wall around a temple in Purnea. Nitish said: "The temple around which boundary walls will be built should be registered with the State Religious Trust Board and should be old. If it is a private temple, the boundary wall will not be built."

The Purnea district administration has approved a list of 37 temples in the district around which boundary walls are to be built with public funding. The particular temple mentioned by the MLA was not on the list.