RJD for a debate on NDA rule vs Lalu-Rabri regime

PATNA: Two days after JD(U) national president and chief minister Nitish Kumar asked his party workers to tell the youth about RJD’s ‘Jungle Raj’ and make them aware of the situation before 2005, RJD state president Jagdanand Singh on Wednesday challenged Nitish to hold discussion on the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri regime versus 15 years of his (NDA) rule.
Singh, in a press meet at his party office, said Nitish was misleading the youth with such statements. “We have data of National Crime Records Bureau, which states how crime has increased in Bihar from 65% in our time to 80% now. While there used to be 108 crime incidents per one lakh population, this has increased to 222 per one lakh now. We are ready to hold a debate on all the parameters of crime before the media,” Singh said while presenting the NRCB data.
He said it was during RJD’s regime that massacres were brought under control. There was no massacre between 2000 and 2005, he claimed. Singh said the first massacre took place in 1977 at Belchi and his party succeeded in putting an end to such incidents by 2000.
“But you sent criminals to Vidhan Sabha and now once again massacre took place in Gopalganj. However, we assure the people of Bihar that once again normalcy will be restored if the state is handed over to us,” said Singh.
Reacting to Singh’s challenge, JD(U) state spokesperson Anjum Ara said 118 massacres had taken place during the Lalu-Rabri regime. “Dalits, EBCs, minority and the poor had faced the brunt of those massacres. As far as the Gopalganj incident is concerned, that was a murder, not massacre. Also, no more organized crime takes place in Bihar, unlike earlier when criminals used to get protection from the CM’s residence,” she said.