RJD’s cycle rally heats up Bihar politics

Patna: The political atmosphere is tensed over the RJD’s “NDA Bhagao, Beti Bachao” cycle rally which is to begin on Saturday in protest against rising crime graph and rampant incidents of rapes in Bihar.

Tejashwi Yadav, who had created a flutter in the political circle by blaming NDA leaders for shielding Muzaffarpur sexual assault accused and demanding chief minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation on moral grounds, on Friday said, “The cycle rally will expose the failures of Nitish Kumar government in controlling deteriorating law and order situation in the state.”

Tejashwi and other Opposition leaders have been raising the issue in the state Assembly. Party leaders said that Tejashwi, along with his brother Tej Pratap, will launch the rally from Bodh Gaya on Saturday.

A senior RJD leader told this newspaper that “the government is on the back foot after Muzaffarpur incident surfaced. Nitish recommended a CBI probe after Tejashwi visited Muzaffarpur shelter home to assess the situation. He has now decided to launch a campaign against the state government on the issue”.

Muzaffarpur shelter home issue had surfaced in March after Mumbai-based Tata Institute of social sciences found sexual assault victims in Muzaffarpur shelter home. An audit report was submitted to the social welfare department by the institute following which authorities registered an FIR and rescued the girls from the shelter home.

Bihar DGP K.S. Diwedi had earlier said that medical examination of 29 of the 42 inmates confirmed that they were sexually assaulted and 10 of the accused have already been arrested while efforts are on to arrest one of the absconding officials.

Sources claim that chief minister Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state suffered another setback on Thursday after Sheeba Kumari Singh, wife of child protection officer (CPO) Ravi Raushan who was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting shelter home inmates, said that social welfare minister Manju Verma’s husband Chandeshwar Verma visited the shelter home frequently.

She also claimed the minister’s husband used to go upstairs alone while other staff and employees of the shelter home were made to sit downstairs.

“The state government was trying to protect big faces who have been involved in the case but I visited Muzaffarpur Chief Minister asked his officials to hand over the case to the CBI. Rapes in Bihar is on the rise and uncle Nitish Kumar must open his eyes now”, Tejashwi Yadav said.