(Image source from: Jungle Raj returns to Bihar – BJP vice-president shot dead})
Prominent Bhojpur leader Visheshwar Ojha and Bihar BJP’s vice-president, was shot dead at 6.30 pm on Friday at Sonbarsha village in Ara. Ojha had just entered his car after meeting a relative at a marketplace when the assailants, who had their faces covered, fired at him. Visheshwar Ojha was gunned down and three of his associates injured, in Bhojpur, around 75 KM from the state capital.
Police said that “more than a dozen bullets from sophisticated weapons” were fired at Ojha. He died on his way to the hospital.
Bihar additional director general of police (headquarters) Sunil Kumar said, “Though we are looking at all possible angles, it might be a case of personal rivalry.”
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan claimed “jungle raj had returned to Bihar”, while former BJP opposition leader in the assembly Nand Kishore Yadav said “political killings had increased under the Grand Alliance government”.
“Now can (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar tell us if jungle raj has returned to Bihar? Have we not come to the Bihar of 1990?” Paswan said.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey said, “Nitish should stop the drama of crime review through video conferencing. Nothing has changed on the ground. We are giving a 72-hour ultimatum to the government: arrest the culprits or face a statewide movement.” HAM(S) spokesperson Danish Rizwan alleged that the “government has been targeting political rivals”.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is “holding meeting for controlling crime, but the fact is criminals have gone out of control”, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said in a statement in Patna.
The BJP leaders have given 72 hours to the government to arrest the killers of Mr. Ojha failing which, “a State-wide protest will take place.” “NDA leaders are being killed, it’s a jungle raj in the state,” said State BJP president Mangal Pandey.
The killings have sharply escalated the political cost for Kumar for his alliance with RJD, and are soiling his reputation as a CM who had restored law and order during his first two terms. Kumar's review meetings with IPS officers and emphasis on zero tolerance towards crime have proved woefully ineffective so far.
By Premji
