A case was lodged on Sunday against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and 18 other leaders of the opposition Mahagathbandhan among others for staging a protest without permission in Patna amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Opposition leaders had staged a protest at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Saturday in support of the agitating farmers in Delhi.
Later, Mr. Yadav dared the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government to arrest him. “The coward and inefficient Bihar government led by weak and mortgaged chief minister has lodged an FIR against me for raising voice in support of farmers. I dare you to arrest me, if you do not, then I’ll surrender myself. What is an FIR, I’m ready to be hanged for the cause of farmers,” he tweeted in Hindi.
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The district administration in Patna filed an FIR at the Gandhi Maidan police station against the RJD leader and 500 unidentified persons under sections 188, 145, 269, 279 of Indian Penal Code and also under the Epidemic Diseases Act. Other RJD leaders named in the FIR are Alok Mehta, Shyam Rajak, Shakti Singh Yadav, Mrityunjay Tiwari and state Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha.
The official RJD handle also tweeted to criticise the NDA government in Bihar for the FIR.
“The Bihar government has exposed its double character by using false and fabricated excuses to lodge an FIR against Tejashwi Yadav for standing in support of farmers and leading the protest. He takes this FIR as a medal and is not scared of even a thousand of such FIRs,” the party said.
Earlier on Saturday, the party had tweeted a picture of a meeting held in the local BJP office where social distancing norms were not observed.
The RJD-led mahagathbandhan has also announced support for the nationwide strike called by farmers’ organisations on December 8.
