The Opposition in Bihar demanded action against Union Ministers and BJP leaders Giriraj Singh and Ashwani Choubey for allegedly “inciting communal strife in different districts after the bypoll results”.
“Is this the politics BJP wants to pursue in Bihar? It seems BJP has gone into panic mode after the results and the party leaders are desperate to foment communal disharmony in society for electoral gains in 2019,” Leader of Opposition Tejaswi Yadav said.
Earlier, Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai had said that “if the RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam wins the bypoll, Araria would become a hub of terror”.
Soon after the result, Mr. Singh seconded Mr. Rai saying, “Araria would now become a place of traitors”.
Mr. Yadav took a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, on Monday was, obliquely, expressing his displeasure over controversial comments of BJP.
“He (Nitish Kumar) should walk the talk and act against people like Choubey, Singh and Rai who are trying to create communal rift in the society”, he said, while adding, “we’re sure his (Mr. Kumar’s) claim of being against divisive politics is as much of a sham as his anti-corruption posturing”.
Mr. Kumar, though, has been asserting for the last two days that he would not make any compromise on the issue of “ maintaining communal harmony”.
A video which allegedly shows Mr. Singh inciting a crowd to raise slogans against a local police official who belonged to the minority community went viral.
The Opposition also demanded the immediate arrest of BJP arrest Arijit Shashwat as well as his father, Mr. Choubey.
In Bhagalpur, a clash broke out between two communities after some local BJP leaders led by Mr. Shashawat took out a procession under the banner of Bhartiya Navvarsh Jagran Samiti through Nathnagar without any permission from district authorities.
Several people were injured when the clash broke out between members of two communities. The police booked Mr. Shashwat and others but no arrests were made in the case.
