A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker died on Thursday amid clashes between state police and BJP workers, who were holding a protest march to Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The BJP has claimed that the worker died due to police lathi-charge, an allegation that the district administration has denied.
Former Deputy CM of Bihar Sushil Modi claimed that the deceased BJP worker, identified as Jehanabad district general secretary Vijay Kumar Singh, was “arrested” by Bihar police in Patna and “died in the brutal police lathi-charge”.
Speaking to news agency ANI, the former deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, said, “It is so unfortunate that one of our party workers died due to a lathi charge by the police. He died on the way to the hospital. We will lodge murder charges against the police.”
“Nitish Kumar is responsible for all this,” he added.
On Thursday, as BJP workers took out a protest march to the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna to protest the recently amended teachers’ recruitment policy, clashes broke out between police and members of the saffron party. The BJP has lent its support to the teaching job aspirants who are resenting the “no domicile” policy of recruitment, among other things.
Police lobbed tear gas shells and used water canons to disperse thousands of BJP workers, including senior leaders, who tried to march towards the Bihar Vidhan Sabha.
However, the Patna district administration said that Vijay Kumar, was “found unconscious by the roadside”.
“No injury marks have been found on his body,” said the statement, adding that Singh has been taken to PMCH, the state’s largest government hospital.
Moreover, BJP’s national president JP Nadda also tweeted saying that the result of the failure and indignation of the state government. He also made an apparent reference to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav against whom CBI has filed a chargesheet in the land-for-jobs case.
“The Grand Alliance government is attacking democracy to save the citadel of corruption. To save the person who has been charge-sheeted, the chief minister of Bihar has even forgotten his morality,” he said.
Further, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan, who last week dropped hints of joining the BJP-led NDA, attacked CM Nitish Kumar saying it was an “undeclared emergency”.
“In the arrogance of power, the chief minister’s police took the life of an unarmed BJP worker fighting for the rights and rights of Biharis… if this is not an undeclared emergency in Bihar then what else is?” he tweeted.