Ahead of LS elections, Bihar Oppn hits out at Nitish over ‘lawlessness’

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar returned to power in 2015 on the issue of good governance, but his government has of late come under sharp criticism over poor law and order and rising crime against women. In the last one month, four high-profile murders including the killing of a businessman and BJP office-bearer Gunjan Khemka, have rocked the state.

With just a few months left for 2019 general elections, the Opposition parties have been hinting at using "lawlessness" as a poll agenda.

According to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav "rising crime is an indication that Nitish Kumar's good governance policy has failed. There is no fear of the law. Incidents of murder, kidnapping, and crime against women have increased in Bihar".

The RJD said that the crime graph started climbing after the JD(U) returned to the NDA fold and formed a government with the BJP in July 2017.

"Statistics shows that there is a situation of chaos and lawlessness in the state," Mr Yadav said.

The recent murders have led to sharp criticism of the Nitish government not only from Opposition parties but also the BJP which is the junior partner in the government. The saffron party, which is a part of the government in Bihar, also raised questions on the deteriorating law and order condition after the killing of Khemka on December 20, 2018, in Vaishali.

"The broad daylight murder of Gunjan Khemka is shocking. His murder is connected with the lapses of local police and administration. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar must seriously tighten the noose around the police and administration," BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand told this newspaper.

Bihar police records show that 2,295 incidents of murders took place in the state till November 2018, however, sources claim that over 3,000 cases were reported from various places till December.

The alleged case of sexual abuse at various shelter homes of the state has also given an agenda to the Opposition parties against the state government.

The details of torture and sexual abuse of children between 7 and 17 years at shelter homes in Bihar were mentioned in the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) audit report.

The TISS report had pointed out sexual exploitation in at least 15 state-run shelter homes.

The CBI probing the case has found that girls were sedated and brutally raped by high-profile guests of Muzaffarpur shelter home administrator Brajesh Thakur.

In a 73-page chargesheet, the investigating agency revealed that girls were forced to dance, sedated by the officials and employees of the shelter home and then sexually exploited. The girls who resisted were beaten and tortured, the CBI says.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar had handed over the case to the CBI last year after the RJD blamed state government of shielding Brajesh Thakur and demanded the chief minister’s resignation on moral grounds.

Medical examination report had confirmed sexual abuse of 34 of the 42 girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home. Brajesh Thakur and 20 other accused, including officials of the home, have been charged with a serious crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) Act.

The Opposition especially the RJD and Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM have been holding public meetings to highlight the state government's failure in preventing  the rising crimes against women.

According to police statistics, till October 2018, the police registered 2,20,216 criminal cases of which 1,306 were incidents of rape. In October alone, 123 cases of rape were registered at various police station. According to the RJD, between November 2015 and July 2017 — the period when JD(U) was part of Mahagathbandhan government, the registered cases of crime was below two lakh. During this period around 2,400 murders and 1,000 cases of rape were registered. Political analysts claim that Nitish Kumar’s foremost agenda was to end "jungle raj" in Bihar when he came to power for the first time in 2005. Several criminals were arrested and later convicted which resulted in a massive electoral loss to the RJD.