Janata Dal (United) activists at a sparsely-attended ‘adhikar rally’ assaulted each other with chairs to settle political scores on Sunday, even as chief minister Nitish Kumar stayed away from the meet.

Rival factions of the ruling party indulged in full-fledged violence in an attempt to flex their muscles. This happened in the presence of JD(U) state chief Bashistha Narayan Singh and MP Shivanand Tiwari.

Officials said that Kumar stayed away from the meet due to an incident of violence in Madhubani (north Bihar), where two persons died in police firing. However, fear of facing protests at Ara was widely believed to have played a role in the decision.

Many party stalwarts were left nursing injuries in the aftermath of the incident. The battle had broken out between supporters of party leader Vishwanath Singh and former Barhara MLA Asha Devi.

FIRs were lodged by both sides at the Ara Nawada police station in Ara town on Monday.