Patna/Gaya: Cracks appeared in the ruling NDA in Bihar on Saturday as Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed “regret” over having to support the Nitish Kumar government, which he alleged has “surrendered” before criminals.
The remarks predictably drew a sharp reaction from Kumar’s JD(U), which asked the LJP (Ram Vilas) president to “first ensure that his own party does not induct those with criminal antecedents”.
The Hajipur MP, who had caused the JD(U)’s tally to crash in the 2020 assembly polls by fielding candidates of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), in all seats contested by the CM’s party, set the pigeon among the cats when journalists approached him with queries about a gang-rape in Gayaji, the south Bihar town where he was to address a rally.
Paswan said, “The incident is deplorable. The accused may have been caught, but the fact remains that the administration is unable to prevent such crimes from occurring. It appears that the police have surrendered (natmastak) before criminals.”
“I regret (afsos hota hai) having to support a government which is unable to prevent such crimes. We should think of the trauma the victims of such incidents have to undergo. The situation has, indeed, become scary,” said the young leader, pulling no punches.
Paswan, whose party has, incidentally, no representative in the state’s bicameral legislature, continued with his tirade at the rally, where he said “crime was unacceptable in the 1990s, when the state was under RJD’s rule, and it should be unacceptable even now”.
“I promise you that crime will be struck at the very roots and criminals will be behind bars after the assembly polls, with a new government in place which will work on my motto of Bihar first, Bihari first,” he said.
“I promise to give you a new Bihar. But I cannot do anything on my own. All my supporters must fan out across the state and work with an intensity that should give the impression that it is Chirag Paswan himself who is contesting elections everywhere,” he added.
In his speech, Paswan took care not to be as explicit in attacking the government in the state, as he was in lambasting the RJD, which he accused of harbouring criminals and pursuing a “divisive politics”.
“The RJD takes pride in its MY (Muslim Yadav) support base. We, too, have our own MY combine, which denotes ‘mahila’ (women), who comprise half of the total population, and ‘yuva’ (the youth) to whom the future belongs,” he said.
He also spoke of his rift with estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, whom he did not mention by name, but recalled the split in the LJP and the aftermath that had left him in political wilderness for years.
He also repeated the allegation he made a week ago, claiming that there was a “conspiracy to blow me up with a bomb”.
JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, whose party remains sore over the drubbing it had received because of Paswan’s brinkmanship, came out with a strongly worded statement on the diatribe about law and order in the state.
Prasad said, “Those too concerned about law and order in the state would do well to first ensure that they do not induct people with criminal antecedents in their party.”
The allusion was to the LJP, founded by Paswan’s late father Ram Vilas Paswan, which was often criticised for having a high number of history-sheeters in its ranks.
The JD(U) spokesman also asserted that the government was committed to the rule of law.
A BJP loyalist who has, nonetheless, been ambivalent about the JD(U) and its supremo, Paswan has caused a flutter by asserting that he would contest the upcoming assembly polls himself, but made it clear that he did not have his eyes on the chief minister’s chair.
