Union minister hints at failures of previous government as INDIA bloc rallies against corruption in the state
INDIA bloc party workers raise slogans during a protest over Bihar’s law and order in Patna
Leaders and workers from opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday staged protest marches across Bihar, citing deteriorating law and order situation. Leaders from RJD, Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI(M), CPI, and other opposition parties took part in the protest march from Income Tax Crossing to Dak Bungalow Crossing in Patna chanting anti-government slogans.
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Opposition party workers put up posters and banners throughout the state capital, highlighting concerns about the law and order situation and the need to save democracy.
Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan. Pics/PTI
Akhilesh Prasad Singh, president of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC), told reporters, “The Nitish Kumar-led government has failed to address the worsening law and order situation. The state is plagued by daily incidents of murder, rape, kidnapping, extortion, and abduction. Why is Kumar silent on this issue? People of Bihar will not tolerate this and will give a befitting reply to the NDA in the 2025 assembly polls.”
Singh added, “Crime rates have surged recently, and the state government seems indifferent to public safety. This issue will be raised in the upcoming monsoon session of the assembly.”
In the midst of it all Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has asked the Bihar government to set a precedent by taking stringent action in cases of crime and the recent spate of bridge collapses, asserting that the state needs a vision to move up the development ladder.
Once a sharp critic of Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar before both allied with the BJP, Paswan said the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fight the next assembly elections under Kumar’s leadership but flagged a host of issues which, he suggested, has stymied the state’s growth. The assembly elections in Bihar are due to be held in 2025-end.
“Bihari itna aage hai to Bihar itna pichhe kyon? (If Biharis are doing so well, then why is Bihar so behind?) We need to find an answer to this question,” Paswan said, highlighting how people from the state in different fields, from elite government jobs to the private sector, have done well after migrating.
“The problem is that a vision needs to be there and it needs to be implemented,” he said, stressing that efforts should be made to stop migration from the state.
Asked about the collapse of nearly 15 bridges in Bihar in recent months, a development which raised questions about the quality of development work and made the state a magnet for jokes and memes on social media, Paswan said it is a serious issue.
“This definitely shows that somewhere corruption has taken place. Compromises were made. I don’t want to get into the politics of who was in the government then. We are in the government now. It is our responsibility to make sure this does not get repeated. Whosoever is responsible should be held accountable and punished so that a precedent is set for the future,” he said.
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