PATNA: Poster war between the main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad and ruling Janata Dal (United) led by chief minister Nitish Kumar has begun ahead of the Bihar assembly elections due later this year.
On Wednesday, posters erupted at different locations in the state capital, including Beerchand Patel Marg, where the offices of many political parties are located, drawing a parallel between two stalwarts, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar.
The posters claimed that the Lalu era was marked by communal clashes. At least 12 major incidents of communal violence occurred in Bihar between 1090 and 2005 in which a number of people lost their lives, and their property was damaged.
“Communal clashes took place at frequent intervals and fear was writ large on the face of people during ‘Lalu era’. On the other hand, there is communal peace and the rule of law prevails in the state during Nitish Kumar’s regime,” the posters read.
The posters contained the list of major communal incidents reported during the Lalu era. These include Sasaram riots in Rohtas district on March 30, 1990, communal flare-up in Sitamarhi on October 7,1992, which left 44 dead and communal riots in Bhagalpur, Araria, Samastipur and Darbhanga May 29-30, 1996.
Similar incidents took place in Patna on January 1, 1997, Nalanda and Munger on October 1, 1998, Sasaram (Rohtas) and Biharsharif (Nalanda) on January 1, 2000, Nalanda on March 9, 2001, Darbhanga on January 2, 2003, Munger on January 16, 2003 and Ara (Bhojpur) on October 5, 2003, respectively.
On the other hand, posters claimed that there was peace and harmony among members of different communities during Nitish’s regime.
Those involved in riots were brought to book and also prosecuted by the court for their offences.
“There is ‘sushashan’ (good governance in Bihar),” the posters read. Reacting to the latest posters put up on the Beerchand Patel Marg, JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar said that he had no knowledge about the individual or groups that put up the posters in the state capital. “But there is truth in these posters. Communal riots had become an order of the day during Lalu’s era,” he added.