The Bihar BJP Threatens Action Against Officials Following the Death of a Party Leader
On Friday, the opposition BJP in Bihar pledged to retaliate against authorities who said that a party leader’s death the day before was not the result of injuries sustained in a lathicharge.
Vijay Kumar Sinha, the leader of the opposition in the state legislature, vehemently disagreed with remarks made by law enforcement and other administrative figures “even before the post-mortem report was out.”
“These representatives of the current regime are behaving in an unprofessional manner. They should be aware that we are keeping an eye on them. We will act as soon as the administration changes, Sinha said reporters outside the Vidhan Sabha.
The local government has maintained that Vijay Singh, the BJP’s Jehanabad district general secretary, was not even close to the Dak Bungalow crossing, where police had dispersed a procession that was marching in the direction of the Vidhan Sabha by using “mild” force, including tear gas shells and water cannons.
The “unfortunate” death of the BJP leader is under investigation, according to state minister Shravan Kumar, a close ally to chief minister Nitish Kumar, but he directly blamed the opposition group for the police lathicharge.
Why did they start hurling packets of chili powder at police officers who were blocking their way through barricades? Police could hardly have showered them with flower petals given how they were acting, the minister said.
Samrat Choudhary, the head of the state BJP and the opposition leader in the legislative council, refuted claims that party members threw chili powder.
Where is the evidence? The injuries sustained by our employees are enough evidence that there was a lathicharge. Let them substantiate the claimed use of chili powder, Choudhary added.
In the meanwhile, BJP lawmakers from both chambers of the legislature are preparing for a “Raj Bhavan” march later this evening when they want to deliver a memorandum outlining their complaints to Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
