Patna

On Thursday, Union Minister of State for Home and BJP MP from Ujiarpur, Nityanand Rai, accused Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) workers of being behind most criminal activities in Bihar. Rai’s comments followed a social media post by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who criticized the state government’s handling of crime by sharing crime statistics.

At Patna airport, Rai claimed that the RJD has a track record of shielding criminals. He suggested that if RJD members stopped their involvement in crimes like extortion and hooliganism, Bihar’s crime rate would decrease significantly. Rai also accused Tejashwi Yadav of leading these criminal elements and implied that such behavior has become a part of the RJD’s culture.

In response, Janata Dal (United) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj questioned why Tejashwi Yadav did not address the high crime rates during the Grand Alliance government, which recorded 8,832 murders. Neeraj challenged Tejashwi to provide data from that period instead of focusing only on recent crime statistics.

This exchange highlights the ongoing tension between the ruling JD(U)-BJP coalition and the opposition RJD over the state’s law and order issues. Tejashwi Yadav had earlier used recent incidents, including a double murder in Saharsa and a triple murder in Nalanda, to criticize the performance of the Nitish Kumar government.