Patna: With Bihar passing through four days of massive violence over the Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ defence recruitment scheme, BJP state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal on Saturday blamed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for “targeting” his party through the youth.
He also asked the Nitish Kumar government to take adequate measures or face the consequences.
Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United reacted strongly, with its national President Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh claiming Jaiswal had “lost his mental balance, while Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha saying that they do not take the BJP leader’s statements seriously.
On the violence in the state, Jaiswal said: “It was not the agitation of youths in Bihar for the last four days. The violence happened due to the police of Nitish Kumar. The state police which comes under CM Nitish Kumar did not act against the agitators leading to large-scale violence in the state. Such an incident did not happen anywhere else in the country, even in non-BJP-ruled states like West Bengal and Jharkhand.”
“I am saying, in the capacity of BJP state President, that if Nitish Kumar has any concern over this scheme, he should talk to us. We will clarify how the Agnipath scheme is right for youths,” he added.
“When the arson began in Bihar, we had raised our concerns with Nitish Kumar, the Chief Secretary and the DGP, still the BJP leaders were targeted in the state. They have specifically targeted my house and other BJP leaders in Bihar. The agitators attacked our offices in Nawada and Madhepura despite adequate numbers of police force deployed there. The police did not act against the agitators who are basically hooligans. If hooliganism will not stop in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar government will pay the price for it,” he warned.
“I learned that the railway officials called the fire services to douse the flames in trains at several places, but the fire officials replied that the will send fire engines only after the recommendation of SDO of the affected areas. The state machinery were supported and encouraged goons to form hooliganism. The entire act was done to defame the BJP,” Jaiswal alleged.
Lalan Singh reacted furiously to Jaiswal’s statement.
“The Central government has taken a decision to recruit youths in the defence forces through the ‘Agnipath’ scheme. Now, the youths of the country have concerns about it. They have protested against the scheme across the country. The protest across the country is a reaction of dissatisfaction that spreads among youths of the country. Hence, it’s up to the Centre to communicate with youths of the country and make their doubts clear.
“We firmly believe that violence cannot solve any problem. There is no place for violence in society. The protest that happened in the country was a spontaneous reaction of youth which needed to be addressed by the leaders of BJP. Instead of doing it, they are blaming the administration of Bihar. What administration would do with the grievances of BJP or JD-U?” Singh said.
“Due to the anger of youth, you (Jaiswal) have lost your mental balance. I want to tell you to balance your consciousness. It is an effect of your lost balance that you are levelling baseless allegations on the administration of Bihar. Nitish Kumar is a capable person to run the administration. He is known for his good governance in the country. So, he does not require to take education from Sanjay Jaiswal,” he added.
Noting that violent incidents happened in BJP-ruled states like Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, he said: “Why did they not give shoot at sight orders to the police of those states and killed thousands of people. Such a statement gives an idea that he is not a mentally balanced person.”
On his part, Kushwaha said: “We do not take the statement of Sanjay Jaiswal seriously. In family, If any person uses to talk so much, other members would just ignore such a person. Sanjay Jaiswal used to level such allegations in the past. We do not take him seriously.”
(IANS)
