Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday faced protests from the workers of his alliance partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) when they took to the Siwan streets against the arrest of former party MP Mohammad Shahabuddin.
Shahabuddin was ordered to surrender in court and was sent back to jail after the Supreme Court cancelled his bail on Friday.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal protestors shouted slogans, carried placards and banners and even blocked the busy JP Chowk in Siwan town disrupting traffic for hours.
They protested against the state's decision challenging the RJD strongman's bail which resulted in its cancellation.
"Slogans against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were also raised," a district police official said.
RJD is a key ally in the ruling Grand Alliance of JD-U and Congress in Bihar.
After surrendering in court, Shahabuddin attacked Nitish Kumar saying that his supporters would give him a fitting reply in the next assembly elections.
The former Lok Sabha member also stood by his earlier comment that "Nitish Kumar is a Chief Minister of circumstances".
When asked if the cancellation of his bail was a fallout of his criticism against the Bihar Chief Minister, Shahabuddin said that he was never scared of speaking out the truth.
The Bihar government had filed an appeal before the apex court challenging the Patna High Court's order of granting bail to Shahabuddin.
After Justice Jitendra Mohan Sharma of Patna High Court granted him bail on September 7, he was released from Bhagalpur Central Jail on September 10 after spending 11 years in prison.
Siwan is considered a stronghold of Shahabuddin, who represented it in the Lok Sabha four times and twice in the state assembly.
(With IANS inputs)
