Oppn seeks Nitish’s resignation, CBI probe into scribe’s killing

Patna: The opposition led by BJP on Saturday demanded CM Nitish Kumar’s resignation on moral grounds over the “deteriorating law and order” situation in Bihar resulting in the murder of a scribe in Siwan on Friday and a teenager in Gaya on May 7. Terming the state of affairs in Bihar as “Maha Jungle Raj”, the NDA constituents said it is the right time to impose President’s Rule in the state. “This is a murderer government. How many more murders need to happen to prove that rule of law has crumbled in the state?” Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said and termed it “demon-rule” (Rakshas raj). BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain and senior party man Nand Kishore Yadav called Friday’s killing a murder of democracy. Leader of opposition in assembly Prem Kumar, leader of opposition in council Sushil Kumar Modi and state BJP president Mangal Pandey met the family members of slain journalist Rajdeo Ranjan in Siwan on Saturday. “Journalist, trader, police, politician, engineer or doctor… no one is safe in Bihar. Crime has increased under CM Nitish Kumar’s patronage and it is time for him to step down from office,” Kumar said. The BJP has decided to stage a ‘Mahadharna’ in Siwan on Sunday to protest Ranjan’s murder, Pandey said. The BJP has demanded Rs25 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the deceased scribe. Attacking the Mahagathbandhan government, BJP and its allies LJP, RLSP and HAM-S said the journalist was punished for speaking truth about the government. “Ranjan’s murder points fingers towards a jailed RJD strongman in Siwan. Will the state government dare to take action against him? Which Bihar officer can dare to investigate dons like Shahabuddin?” questioned former deputy CM Modi and demanded a CBI probe into the case. “The CM should recall the seven-and-a-half year coalition with the BJP and the situation then and what has happened in just six-months of his government in alliance with the Lalu Prasad’s RJD. Where is Bihar heading? Who is stopping him from taking action against criminals,” Union minister from Bihar Ravi Shankar Prasad said and reminded that Siwan has another history. “It was the fiefdom of a jailed strongman cum politician. Is his terror in the area retuning?” Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy questioned Nitish and Lalu’s silence over Ranjan’s murder and said the inaction of the Nitish-led regime against the criminal elements had emboldened them to take law in their hands. His cabinet colleague Giriraj Singh tweeted, “Even when tears of Gaya have not dried yet, this heart-wrenching murder of a journalist in Siwan. These days, neither Nitish lives in Bihar nor his good governance.” Backing BJP’s ‘Maha Jungle Raj’ jibe, former CM and HAM-S president Jitan Ram Manjhi said the Nitish government has failed to check criminals. “I had said it before polls that if grand alliance comes to power, it will be ‘Jungle Raj’ again. Nitish is only trying to divert the people’s attention from poor law and order by talking of prohibition,” Manjhi said and also demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder. RLSP leaders burned an effigy of the CM to protest “poor law and order situation” in the state. LJP MP Chirag Paswan and BJP’s Ashiwini Choubey met President Pranab Mukherjee late on Friday evening and handed him a memorandum seeking President’s Rule in Bihar.