Work more and speak less: Nitish to Chidambaram

Home Minister P Chidambaram should work more and speak less and control his "tone and tenor", Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday.

"There is one suggestion. There is no profit in speaking too much. Do work...I have all regard for Chidambaram but I will suggest that he should control his tone and tenor," Kumar said while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

This advice from Kumar has come close on the heels of Dantewada massacre in Chhattisgarh, the worst attack by Maoists on security forces.

Besides, he said, everybody knew that the offer of resignation by Chidambaram to the prime minister will not be accepted.

"People know it. It is not good to speak too much (bahut bola nahin jaata hai)."

Kumar also took on Home Secretary G K Pillai for his recent comments that Bihar was a "little soft" in taking any "hard action" against Maoists since assembly elections were scheduled later this year. "Is it the job of a Home Secretary to give a political statement? This is absolutely impudent," he said.

"It becomes difficult for me to react on the statement of a home secretary of Government of India. We will have to understand the federal structure (of this country). We will have to pay respect to each other," he said.

Taking a dig at the Centre's "readiness" to provide paramilitary forces to Naxal-hit states, Kumar said that when they were required during elections in Bihar, only 23 companies of CRPF were sent which was completely inadequate to meet the requirement then.