Shelter home case a blot on Nitish image: LJP

PATNA: In an embarrassment of sorts to CM Nitish Kumar who heads the NDA government in Bihar, ally LJP on Tuesday said cases of sexual harassment were being reported quite frequently in the state.

Reacting to the alleged sexual assault of at least 29 girls of a government-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan’s son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan also said law and order was associated with the personal image of Nitish who was known as ‘Sushasan Babu’.

“I request the CM, who is also the state home mister, to take up Muzaffarpur case with all seriousness,” he said and added the CM should live up to his image.

“Nitish came to power as an alternative to ‘jungle raj’... In his capacity as Bihar’s home minister, he is answerable if any Muzaffarpur-like incident happens in the state,” Chirag said.

Chirag regretted the Muzaffarpur shelter home’s was not a one-off case. “We have seen such incidents happening in other districts of the state as well,” he said.

Chirag’s statement gave ammo to the opposition parties. “The Nitish government should be ashamed of itself now that even its alliance partners are questioning the rule of law... Chirag’s statement also shows that the NDA constituents are arm-twisting one another,” said RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav.

Congress’s Kadwa MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan said Chirag’s uncle was a minister in the Nitish government and yet he was criticising it. “There’s chaos in the state NDA,” Khan said.