Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday said Gujarat Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor does not have the courage to visit Bihar after recent attacks on migrant workers in Gujarat. Thakor said he will visit Bihar and meet Modi as well. Gujarat OBC leader also criticised Modi for playing divisive politics while on a visit to the Statue of Unity. The Deputy CM said people of the country have the right to work in whichever state they want, referring to the exodus of Hindi-speaking migrant workers from Gujarat last month after some of them were attacked allegedly by members of Kshatriya Thakor Sena, an outfit led by Alpesh Thakor. He added that just like a Gujarati community is spread across the world, people from Bihar have settled in Gujarat, Maharashtra and other states. Thakor, who represents Radhanpur seat, was appointed by the Congress as the co-in-charge of Bihar in August. Young Congress leader from Gujarat accepted the challenge by BJP leader from Bihar saying that he will visit Bihar and also meet Modi at his home. Thakor, on Tuesday also participated in 'Chhath Puja', revered greatly by people in the Hindi belt, at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, where he interacted with people. "There is no animosity between people. We took selfies as well," Thakor told DNA. However, Modi said such gestures will not be able to improve Thakor's image as the damage is already done. However, Thakor distanced himself from the attacks on migrants about a month ago. "The recent affidavit filed by the state government has mentioned that there were not attacks on migrants," said Thakor. Thakor criticized Modi for making statements that will divide society. Instead of trying to divide society into regional lines Modi should ensure that labourers from Bihar working in Gujarat are being exploited by businessmen in Gujarat. "Migrant workers are given meager pay in Gujarat and the state government is a mute spectator to it. Everything is happening under the nose of the BJP government in Gujarat. If Modi is really concerned about workers from Bihar, he should raise the issue with the BJP government in the state," said Thakor. —With inputs from PTI

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