As the fallout from the recent communal unrest in Bihar began to fade, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday denied accusations of managerial negligence while berating Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP. He also vowed to name and shame those who had “orchestrated” the riots. In addition, the JD(U) leader attacked Asaduddin Owaisi, the head of AIMIM, branding him a “agent” of the BJP. On the eve of a celebration honouring Babu Jagjeevan Ram, a prominent dalit and former deputy prime minister, he was responding to questions from reporters. Kumar’s remarks come a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP was bringing in goons to create riots in her state. The Bihar CM taunted Shah over the much-publicised “rioters will be hung upside down if BJP comes to power in Bihar” remark at a rally in Nawada district on Sunday, and reminded him of riots “in 2017 when our government had to arrest the son of a BJP leader”.
The Bihar CM, who was a minister in the Union Cabinet headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also reminded Shah “how angry revered (‘shraddhey’) Atal ji was”, indirectly referring to the 2002 riots in Gujarat, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of that state.
About the conflagration that erupted in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif last week, again during Ram Navami, Kumar asserted that there was “no administrative laxity”, but added the riots were “orchestrated (‘jaan boojhkar karvaaya gaya’)” and “those behind the incident will be known soon. Just wait, door-to-door searches are on”.
“The riots last week were thoroughly planned thoroughly. No wonder one of the places, Sasaram, happened to be where he (Amit Shah) was supposed to visit. And the other was Bihar Sharif, a town that is dear to me,” said Kumar, who hails from Nalanda district, where Bihar Sharif is headquartered.
