BJP leader Prem Kumar on Thursday staged a “24-hour protest” against what he called deteriorating law and order situation and distress of farmers in Bihar. Dr. Kumar, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, demanded an increase in the quota for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the panchayat polls.
“Everyday, incidents of murder, rape and extortion are taking place in Bihar and the government has completely failed to control them. The farmers too are forced to sell their produce to brokers as the government is not purchasing it,” Dr. Kumar said outside the party headquarters here.
He also took on the Nitish Kumar government for imposing VAT (Value Added Tax) charges on clothes, which has “significantly affected” cloth merchants.
In an attempt to generate additional revenue and compensate for the Rs. 4,000 crore annual excise tax loss owing to the proposed ban on liquor, the State government on January 13 declared that it would impose VAT on selected items, including clothes sold for over Rs. 500 per metre and saris priced over Rs. 2,000.
Later in the day, BJP’s alliance partner and leader of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) Jitan Ram Manjhi joined the demonstration.
“Before the State Assembly polls, we said if the Grand Alliance came to power, the situation in Bihar would resemble a jungle raj and it is happening now”, Mr. Manjhi said. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, State party president Mangal Pandey and former deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi were among the leaders who joined the protest.
JD(U) leader and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Hindu that Dr. Prem Kumar staged the dharna due to “wrangling between BJP leaders.”
“On every issue, Sushil Modi hogs the limelight with his media coverage. Hence, other leaders are resorting to such publicity tactics,” he said, adding that the protest had “nothing to do” with the failures of the Nitish Kumar government.
