Both houses of Bihar legislature disrupted over law and order

Both houses of Bihar Legislature today witnessed an uproar, with the opposition BJP attacking the government over law and order situation which they alleged had nosedived after JD(U) joined hands with the RJD.

Soon after the Assembly proceedings began, the Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav started pressing Speaker Udai Narayan Chaudhary to take up a discussuon on law and order, suspending all other businesses.

BJP members trooped into the well and started raising anti-government slogans as the Parliamentary Affairs minister Shrawan Kumar charged them with breaking rules.

Reminding the BJP members that school children were watching from the visitors gallery, the Speaker asked them to go back to their seats but all persuasion fell on deaf ears.

The Speaker then adjourned the House till 12 p.m and later till 2 p.m when the din continued.

In the Upper House too, BJP members pressed for an adjournment over the issue of murder of two persons in Siwan and the report by Special Branch of Bihar police that former RJD MP and strongman Mohammad Shahbuddin had made a hit list of 23 persons.

Similiar scenes were witnessed in Legislative Council. When Council Chairman Awdesh Narain Singh disallowed adjournment notice of Rajnish Kumar of BJP his colleagues entered the well of the house following which the House was adjourned till 2:30 p.m.

Later, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav told reporters in his chamber that Bihar was witnessing 'a return of RJD rule after Nitish Kumar fell on the feet of Lalu Prasad to save the government'.

"By giving criminals a free hand, the JD(U) ministry is giving a salute to Lalu Prasad," Yadav said.

He alleged that crime had soared after Jitan Ram Manjhi assumed charge in May this year.

He claimed in comparison to 1,84,961 cognisable crime recorded in 2013, it has been 1,47,433 by August this year. There has been an average of 19,500 cognisable crime per month in the current year, he said, adding, at this pace the figure would reach around 2 lakh by the end of 2014.

In addition to rise in cases of rape, murder and road dacoity, crime against SC and ST had been maximum during the period of 'dalit CM' Jitan Ram Manjhi, he claimed.

There were 81 cases registered under Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST in 2012 (when JD(U) and BJP were together in government) which increased to 305 in 2013 (JD-U break up with BJP in June 2013) and first eight months of 2014 the figure has hiked to 361, Yadav claimed.

But, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi dismissed the opposition's allegation and said official figures did not back up the claim.