RJD workers vandalise buses and cars ahead of visit by Nitish

Opposition RJD workers here on Wednesday went on a rampage, vandalising buses and cars and tearing down posters of the ruling JD(U) ahead of Chief Minister Nitish Kumars scheduled visit, police said.

The RJD workers were staging a demonstration in Lohianagar locality of the town in protest against alleged reneging by the chief minister on his promise of setting up an AIIMS-like hospital.

They also exchanged blows with workers of the JD(U) who protested when the opposition party workers damaged their posters and banners, police said.

Police made lathi charge to disperse the mob and clear the way for the cavalcade of the chief minister, who reached the venue for addressing a meeting of party workers belonging to the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs).

 

At the conference, Kumar expressed satisfaction over the "awareness" that he saw among the newly-empowered EBCs and underscored the measures taken by his government to bring about womens emancipation, which included ban on alcohol, campaigns against dowry and child marriage and also schemes aimed at promoting girls education.

Meanwhile, in Patna JD(U) state president Vashishth Narayan Singh deplored the behaviour of RJD workers saying "it did not send a good message for democracy" and accused leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav of having made a fuss over "a non-issue like installation of CCTV camera."

Yadav had last week accused the chief minister of "snooping" on him by getting the CCTV installed at a boundary wall that separates the residences of the two. Officials had, however, claimed that the CCTV camera was put up at the spot "on a trial basis" and after its performance was not found up to the mark, it was removed earlier this week.

Singh, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, declined to answer queries about discordant notes sounded by RLSP chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha who has sought a "respectable" seat-sharing arrangement be finalised by November 30 while accusing Kumar, of trying to "poach" his MLAs and MPs.

"Other leaders within the NDA have already spoken a lot about him. I do not wish to add anything," Singh said.