NDA, Grand Alliance in war of words over Bihar law and order

Incidents of crime hogging the limelight once again has sparked a war of words in Bihar between a resurgent NDA and the ruling grand alliance dispensation.

With incidents of crime hogging the limelight once again, a war of words has ensued in Bihar between a resurgent NDA and the ruling Grand Alliance dispensation.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav at a review meeting in Patna. (PTI File Photo)

While the Bihar government is at the receiving end of relentless attack from the NDA constituents branding the recent turn of events as return of the ‘jungle raj’, the RJD has hit back, with deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday terming it an attempt to malign the image of the state.

After senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted news reports about the killing of an assistant sub-inspector, extortion demands and theft of an idol from a Bakhtiarpur temple, it was the turn of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan to hit out at the Bihar government for the “constantly deteriorating law and order situation”.

“The spurt in crime clearly points to the advent of jungle raj which we always feared. Three engineers and two police inspectors have been killed, an SP has been attacked and above all, there is a fear psychosis gripping the people,” he said, while talking to the media in Patna.

As Paswan took on the Bihar government, a cartoon trending on Twitter depicted “the lengthening shadow of RJD chief Lalu Prasad in contrast with the shortening shadow of chief minister Nitish Kumar”.

Stung by the attack, Tejashwi Yadav tried to take the battle to the Opposition on the lines of what his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad did over Pathankot a couple of days ago.

“With terrorist attacks in Pathankot and elsewhere, should the people start dubbing it as ‘atank raj’? If no, then how can a few crime incidents earn Bihar the tag of ‘jungle raj’? It is sheer negative propaganda to defame Bihar and is in nobody’s interest,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Vinod Narayan Jha, however, said, “There is fear in the minds of the people. They now refrain from going for late night shows even in Patna. When the police are not safe, who else is?”

Union minister Radha Mohan Singh said the Grand Alliance had got a big mandate and it should concentrate on development.