Nitish trashes 'jungle raj' barb, says 'rule of law' prevails

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday dismissed opposition's charge of "jungle raj" in Bihar and asserted that "rule of law" prevailed in the state pointing to the action taken against JDU MLA Sarfaraz Alam in a case of misbehaviour and abusing a couple in a train.

"There is neither jungle raj in Bihar nor will it ever come. There is rule of law and it will continue to exist," Kumar said while speaking at a function to mark birth anniversary of socialist leader Karpoori Thakur.

"When a matter relating to a JDU MLA misbehaving and abusing a couple in a train came (to light), the party took stock of the situation and put the MLA under suspension," he said narrating the incident related to JDU Jokihat MLA Alam.

"My government belives that everybody is equal before law. No lawbreaker will be spared be it anybody. The government does not protect any law breaker, rather it facilitates the law breakers prosecution," the CM said.

The government keeps a close watch over all the incidents of crime and initiate prompt action over them, he said, adding, "Police is doing its job by arresting the culprits. Those policemen found slack in duty would not be spared."

"Despite these efforts a few people are indulging in baseless talks that jungle raj exists in the state," he said taking an apparent dig at rival BJP. "There is no jungle raj here rather there is rule of law in the state."

Launching a frontal attack against BJP, Kumar said, "They are trying to paint a picture of fear by linking separate incidents of crime ... More crime incidents are taking place outside Bihar but still they link up separate crime events and speak about jungle raj which is not true."

The CM referred to messages he received on WhatsApp in which, he said, people believed that "the truth is different from what is said about Bihar.

"Rule of law is prevailing here and growth is taking place with justice," he asserted. Kumar said he followed "coalition dharma". "There is a common programme of the coalition on which work is being done in a mission mode."

JD(U) President Sharad Yadav, state party chief Basistha Narayan Singh and party MP Ramnath Thakur, son of socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, addressed the function.