Both houses of Bihar legislature disrupted over law and order

Patna: Both houses of Bihar Legislature today witnessed an uproar, with the opposition BJP attacking the government over law and order situation which they alleged had nosedived after JD(U) joined hands with the RJD.  Soon after the Assembly proceedings began, the Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav started pressing Speaker Udai Narayan Chaudhary to take up a discussuon on law and order, suspending all other businesses.

BJP members trooped into the well and started raising anti-government slogans as the Parliamentary Affairs minister Shrawan Kumar charged them with breaking rules.  Reminding the BJP members that school children were watching from the visitors gallery, the Speaker asked them to go back to their seats but all persuasion fell on deaf ears.  

The Speaker then adjourned the House till 12 o'clock and later till 2 pm when the din continued.  In the Upper House too, BJP members pressed for an adjournment over the issue of murder of two persons in Siwan and the report by Special Branch of Bihar police that former RJD MP and strongman Mohammad Shahbuddin had made a hit list of 23 persons.

Similiar scenes were witnessed in Legislative Council.  When Council Chairman Awdesh Narain Singh disallowed adjournment notice of Rajnish Kumar of BJP his colleagues entered the well of the house following which the House was adjourned till 2:30 PM.

Later, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav told reporters in his chamber that Bihar was witnessing “a return of RJD rule after Nitish Kumar fell on the feet of Lalu Prasad to save the government.” “By giving criminals a free hand, the JD(U) ministry is giving a salute to Lalu Prasad,” Yadav said.  

He alleged that crime had soared after Jitan Ram Manjhi assumed charge in May this year.  He claimed in comparison to 1,84,961 cognisable crime recorded in 2013, it has been 1,47,433 by August this year.  There has been an average of 19,500 cognisable crime per month in the current year, he said, adding, at this pace the figure would reach around 2 lakh by the end of 2014.  In addition to rise in cases of rape, murder and road dacoity, crime against SC and ST had been maximum during the period of “dalit CM” Jitan Ram Manjhi, he claimed.  

There were 81 cases registered under Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST in 2012 (when JD(U) and BJP were together in government) which increased to 305 in 2013 (JD-U break up with BJP in June 2013) and first eight months of 2014 the figure has hiked to 361, Yadav claimed.  But, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi dismissed the opposition's allegation and said official figures did not back up the claim. Manjhi told reporters in his chamber, the rise in figures might be because of the fact that weaker sections were now brave enough to register complaints.

“There has been faster registration of complaints and the disposal of cases have also gained speed,” he said.  On BJP questioning his silence over recent incident in his home district Gaya where a trader was arrested after a fight with RJD MLA Surendra Yadav over purchase of “tilkut” (sweet), Manjhi said “work of government is to act, not to shout”.

Action had been initiated in the Gaya incident, he added.

Brushing aside opposition's charges on crime situation, Manjhi said “I do not expect opposition to praise my government.”

Earlier, Yadav said there was no point demanding resignation of Manjhi as “some other weak person could be put on chair and the scene will be no better.” “In order to save the government JD(U) has buckled under the pressure of RJD and has no will to rein in criminals patronised by RJD,” the opposition leader said.
“During NDA rule Nitish Kumar used to claim that JD(U)-BJP combine government ended organised crime in Bihar.  But, special branch report of ex-RJD MP Mohammad Shahbuddin preparing a hit list of eliminating 23 persons is enough to show the situation now,” he said.

State BJP President and MLC Mangal Pandey also spoke about the tense situation in Siwan in his chamber in Legislative Council.