BJP’s Bihar shutdown turns violent

Patna: The state-wide shutdown called by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party turned violent in Bihar on Tuesday with party workers indulging in bloody clashes with the ruling Janata Dal (United) leaders at several places across the state.

The call for a “Bihar shutdown” had been given to protest JD-U’s move to break tie with BJP.

The clashes took places hours after the chief minister Nitish Kumar was heard telling his party workers to foil the BJP’s strike call while asking them to be vigilant at a meeting of the party lawmakers and leaders held at his official residence Monday evening.

The BJP has blamed the chief minister for instigating his party workers to indulge in violence.

A major clash broke out at the capital’s Beer Chand Patel Path which houses state offices of main political parties, as rival leaders attacked each other with bamboo sticks and exchanged blows, in which more than a dozen people from both sides, including JD-U state spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Singh, were injured.

The incident took place after a group of JD-U leaders took out protest marches on the streets and then marched towards the office of the BJP to obstruct its proposed “Bihar shutdown” which was strongly protested by the BJP as both sides clashed.

The situation turned volatile further when a rifle was recovered from a car parked outside the office of the JD-U. Similar incidents were reported from many parts of the state as the police had a tough time controlling the situation.

A number of top BJP leaders including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shahanawaz Hussain, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Mangal Pandey marched on the streets and courted arrests.

“The way the BJP workers were attacked and assaulted by the ruling party, it shows the mental bankruptcy of the chief minister... the people of Bihar are not going to forgive him for his betrayal with people’s mandate,” said Rudy, adding the chief minister was acting out of desperation.

“Now, there is no difference between Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar,” added Rudy.

The JD-U reacted by saying they would oppose every move of the BJP to mislead the people of Bihar.

“The BJP was reacting after being thrown out of power but they will calm down soon thereafter,” remarked chief minister, reacting to Tuesday’s shutdown.