Protests against BJP leader’s death rock Bihar legislature

Frenzied protests by members of the opposition BJP in both Houses of the legislature in Bihar over the death of a party leader, which they blamed on a police lathi-charge, led to adjournment till 2 p.m. within minutes of the commencement of proceedings. BJP members had come to the legislature wearing black badges, while some of them even dressed in kurtas or had ‘gamchas’ of the same colour wrapped around their necks on the last day of the monsoon session.
Marshals evicted Lalganj MLA Sanjay Kumar Singh, who rushed into the well and clambered atop the table meant for reporting staff. The MLA tore off his black kurta in a display of frustration even as other BJP members stood inside the well, trying to upturn the table and trading barbs with legislators of the ruling RJD, well after Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary announced that the House would reassemble after lunch. Similar uproarious scenes were witnessed in the upper house, where little business could take place after Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary tabled the supplementary budget.
The opposition BJP in Bihar on Friday vowed to take action against officials who claimed that the death of a party leader a day before was not caused by injuries suffered in a lathi-charge. Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, took strong exception to statements given by police and other administrative officials “even before the post-mortem report was out.”
“These officials are acting like spokespersons of the current dispensation. They should know that they are being watched by us. No sooner than the regime changes, we will take action,” Sinha told reporters outside the Vidhan Sabha. The local administration has been maintaining that Vijay Singh, the Jehanabad district general secretary of the BJP, was nowhere close to the Dak Bungalow crossing, where police had used “mild” force, besides firing tear gas shells and using water canons, to disperse a procession that was heading towards the Vidhan Sabha.
Meanwhile, state minister Shravan Kumar, a close aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the “unfortunate” demise of the BJP leader was a matter of investigation but squarely blamed the opposition party for the lathi-charge by police.

4-member committee to probe use of police force
The BJP on Friday constituted a four-member committee of party MPs to probe the Bihar Police’s alleged use of excessive force on its leaders during a protest march. Former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das will be the convenor of the “high-level probe committee,” and Vishnu Dayal Ram, Manoj Tiwari, and Sunita Duggal will be its other members, the party said in a statement. Noting that BJP president J P Nadda has strongly condemned the police’s “barbarity” and the state government’s “dictatorial” mindset, it said the committee will soon visit Patna and submit its report to the party’s national president, J P Nadda.