LJP seeks President's Rule in Bihar over law and order

With the NDA-backed Lok Janshakti Party, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, demanding imposition of President's Rule in the state on grounds of increasing lawlessness, the political situation in the state is in turmoil. The latest provocation for the demand was the slaying of his party leader Brijnathi Singh on the outskirts of Patna on Friday.

Though the police maintained that the killing was an outcome of gang war, the Opposition tried to give the incident a political colour as the victim’s son, Roshan Kumar, had contested the election against Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s son Tejaswi Yadav from Raghopur constituency in the recently held Assembly elections.

“This killing was definitely an outcome of political vendetta. Situation in Bihar has worsened after the formation of the Grand Secular Alliance government and seeing the situation in Bihar, where killing and lawlessness is on the rise, the only option left is the imposition of President Rule,” senior LJP leader Chirag Paswan said in Delhi on Saturday. Both LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and party MP Chirag Paswan are likely to meet the slain leader’s family on Sunday.

Meanwhile, state JD(U) president Basisth Narayan Singh, a close confidante of chief minister Nitish Kumar, admitted for the first time that the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated, but attributed this to the conspiracy by the Opposition to defame the government.

“It is true that crime has escalated a bit, but in my view, this is a conspiracy to destabilize the society and the state government whose commitment for good governance cannot be questioned. We are sure that the government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar will be able control the situation soon,” the JD(U) state president said in reaction to the Opposition’s allegation that state government has failed in controlling lawlessness.

This is the first time after the formation of the Grand Secular Alliance government in the state that the ruling party JD(U) has accepted that law and order situation has deteriorated in Bihar.

Criticising the state government and the ruling party’s statement, former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, while terming the law and order situation as “AK-47 Raj” (rule of AK-47), said, “The Centre or the judiciary must take cognisance of the matter without delay as situation in the state worsens everyday.”