Patna: Two major incidents – murder of Siwan journalist and killing of a GRP escort jawan near Buxar and loot of rifles of the two jawans on the running train added with last Saturday’s murder of a Gaya student Aditya Sachdeva- has given enough ammunition not only to the opposition-BJP, LJP, RLSP and HAM (S) but even to a section of the ruling Mahagathbandhan leaders to attack Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for neglecting the state on law and order front.
Opposition leaders armed with the crime figures-nine incident of bank loot, killing of four policemen including two officers-in-charges of police stations in Vaishali and Nalanda, murder of two engineers near Darbhanga ,are attacking the chief minister on the Good Governance ( Sushashan) front. They are pointing out that ever since the Mahagathbandhan came to power in November last year, six legislators of the Grand alliance-Congress,RJD and JD(U)have indulged in crimes of various nature. One of them was involved in rape of a minor girl, another ‘s son killed a student and liquor was found at her residence .
A minister of Nitish Cabinet along with the ruling alliance MLA visited the jailed RJD national executive committee member Md Shahbuddin, they claim adding these incidents emboldened o the law breakers. The CM on different occasions defended the government saying”Law is taking its own course. Crimes can’t be prevented,but action is being taken against the criminals,no one has been spared.”
Nitish is obviously not giving enough time to improve law and order though he holds the home portfolio. His main mission for the last two months is-total prohibition not only in Bihar but throughout the country and to expand his drive against liquor,he is touring Jharkhand, Varanasi and has plans for Rajasthan and Odisha fixed. He has given directions to the police in the state to ensure total prohibition and warned the officers-in-charges of police stations to enforce ban otherwise they would be denied police station postings for ten years. In his meetings, he has been giving figures of liquors seized and arrests made. Due to his emotional commitment to enforce prohibition, law and order has a big casualty, according to the opposition leaders.
After becoming the JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar has gone national and campaigned in Kerala for state’s assembly elections, went to Varanasi to expand the base of the party by organising active workers conference. On May 15, he will be in Lucknow for political conference. Nitish had come to power in 2005 with promises of crime control and restoring rule of law, which he successfully enforced . But, in his present stint, it appears, his priorities have either changed or he has become handicapped due to political reasons which may dent his image of Sushaan Babu,political observers said here.