Patna (Bihar) : Taking a swipe at a Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president, Chirag Paswan, on Saturday said that he is "saddened to support such a government," which is not able to curtail the rising crime rate.
The union minister said that he does believe that reports of incidents of rising crimes such as murders, looting and more are a "conspiracy" to defame the government ahead of the assembly elections, he also said that the responsibility ultimately lies with the state government itself to control law and order.
"I also believe that these incidents are being carried out as a conspiracy to defame the government ahead of elections. But even then, the responsibility of controlling it lies with the administration. Either the administration is in collusion with it, or the administration has become completely useless, and now it is beyond their power to keep Bihar and Biharis safe," the Union Minister told reporters in Patna.
"I request the Bihar government to take action on this matter in a timely manner. I feel ashamed that I am supporting such a government, under which crime has gotten out of control," he added.
The LJP (Ram Vilas) president, part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance, said that it seems the Bihar government has "completely bowed down" in front of criminals, referencing a retired health department official being shot at by unknown assailants in Gaya district. He said that if such incidents are curtailed, then it will create a frightening situation in the state.
"The way there have been criminal incidents one by one, and the way the government has bowed its head down in front of criminals. It is true that the incident is as condemnable as embarrassing, and an arrest also happened. But why are such incidents like murder, loot, dacoit, rape, one after another, happening in Bihar? It looks like the government is totally unsuccessful in curtailing these incidents. If this keeps going on, then it will create a very frightening situation in our state," Paswan said.
At the same time, Paswan also criticised the Rashtriya Janata Dal over the party discussing a potential boycott of the assembly election amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out by the Election Commission (EC).
"I am saying, let them do it (boycott polls) if they have the courage. These are the political parties that cannot even fight alone. RJD, an old party of Bihar, does not have the courage to contest elections alone; they are in an alliance with Congress. Even Congress does not have the courage to fight alone here. Chirag Paswan did this in 2020. They are only trying to create fear," he said.
The LJP (RV) national president earlier had also announced that his party is preparing to contest all 243 assembly seats. Meanwhile, the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar has erupted a massive row in the country, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging that it will delete a significant chunk of voters.