NEW DELHI: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Friday pointed out the deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar, citing deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha’s remarks after his convoy was attacked during the first phase of assembly elections.Reacting to the incident, Kishor said that Sinha’s remarks confirm the “chaal, charitra and chehra (conduct, character, and image)” of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar.
“He himself confirmed the ‘chaal, charitra, chehra’ of his government. Nobody is safe here and there is no rule of law,” Kishor said.”Till now, it was the public tolerating it. Now the leaders are also facing it during elections,” he added.This comes a day after Vijay Kumar Sinha was seen lashing out at Lakhisarai Superintendent of Police and demanding deployment of a “special force” after his convoy was attacked by people he claimed were supporters of the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).“I am here in the village. The crowd is moving closer. I will sit here in protest,” Sinha said. “The SP is weak and cowardly. They are not allowing the deputy chief minister to proceed. The mob has hurled stones and cow dung.”Accusing Mahagathbandhan CM nominee Tejashwi Yadav’s party of orchestrating the attack, the BJP leader added, “These are RJD goons. Look at their hooliganism even before coming to power. They threatened my polling agent and turned him away as early as 6:30 am. They are preventing voters from stepping out. How can the SP claim that polling is being held peacefully? If anything happens, I will sit here and protest in this village.”The Lakhisarai assembly constituency, a BJP stronghold, has been represented by Sinha since 2010. He is contesting again from the same seat in the ongoing Bihar assembly elections.Following the incident, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar (CEC) directed the Bihar DGP to take “immediate action.””No one will be allowed to take law into their own hands. Strict action will be taken against the miscreants,” an official said quoting Kumar.The first phase of the assembly elections in Bihar concluded peacefully on Thursday with a record voter turnout of 64.66 per cent, the highest-ever in the state’s history.The voting was held on 121 seats spread across 18 districts, and a total of 3.75 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase polls. The second phase of assembly polls will be held on November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14.While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising of BJP, JD(U), HAMS, LJP (RV), and others, is looking to retain power for a second term, the Mahagathbandhan, comprising Congress, RJD, left parties, and VIP, is looking to get back to power. Jan Suraaj party has also made a debut in the electoral fray, contesting in more than 200 seats on its own.
