Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar unit president Samrat Choudhary and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha on Friday jointly slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and held him responsible for the communal violence in Nalanda and Rohtas districts during Ram Navami processions on March 31.
Both leaders, during their visit to Nalanda, accused the Chief Minister of engaging in politics of appeasement and demanded that a commission should be constituted under the chairmanship of the sitting judge of the Patna High Court to investigate the communal violence.
Mr. Choudhary said a delegation of the BJP will meet Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath on May 8 to formally complain about the Nitish Kumar government. He said the BJP has no faith in the district administrations and District Magistrates of Rohtas and Nalanda.
“When Biharsharif was burning, Nitish Kumar’s government was sleeping. Today, when we came here, the police force had been deployed, but where were the police when the riots were taking place and firing was all around? If the police would have remained alert during that time, no one would have been killed, places of worship, houses and shops would not have been burnt,“ Mr. Choudhary said.
He alleged that the CM was showing partiality towards the BJP as the district administration does nothing when leaders of the Janata Dal (United) and the Congress visit Nalanda, but implement Section 144 of CrPc during BJP leaders’ visit.
Questions lack of security
Mr. Choudhary further said that it was Mr. Kumar who created the situation of communal violence in the State.
“Why the Nitish Kumar government did not make any security arrangements on the day of Ram Navami? Nitish deliberately did not make security arrangements so that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally could not be held in Bihar. That is why riots were incited in Biharsharif and Sasaram,” Mr. Choudhary alleged.
Mr. Shah was scheduled to address a rally in Sasaram on April 2, which was however cancelled following the violence.
Mr. Choudhary also met the family members of Gulshan Kumar, a minor from Biharsharif who was killed in the riots. He assured that they would justice.
On the question of ban on Bajrang Dal, he said that as even Ravana could not bind Lord Hanuman, what would this government be able to do.
Talking about Nitish Kumar’s effort to unite the Opposition and hold a meeting in Patna after the Karnataka election, Mr. Chaudhary said that the leaders will gather only for tea and breakfast.
“The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is a victim of memory loss. Leaders like Karpoori Thakur, George Fernandes, Abdul Gafoor, Devi Lal, V.P. Singh, Digvijay Singh, Sharad Yadav, Shakuni Chowdhary, Lalu Prasad Yadav and many more have been betrayed by Nitish Kumar. He has now lost the trust of the people of Bihar,” Mr. Choudhary said.
Mr. Sinha alleged that people of certain communities were left out and only the Hindus were arrested in the communal violence case. Both leaders along with Biharsharif MLA Dr. Sunil Kumar and BJP workers visited the temple of Baba Mani Ram Akhada where Ram Navami procession ends every year. They performed the rituals as the procession could not end at the place due to communal violence.
