PATNA: Leaders across party lines in Bihar expressed their strong displeasure over eviction of bungalow of former union minister and patriarch of the scheduled caste late Ram Vilas Paswan by the central government in New Delhi last week.
After eviction of 12 Janpath bungalow, a video went viral on social media late on Saturday showing the statue of B R Ambedkar and photographs of Ram Vilas Paswan being thrown on the road. The TNIE, however, doesn’t verify the authenticity of the viral video.
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi came out in support of Chirag Paswan and said on Sunday, “Had religious books thrown on the road like the statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and the photographs of senior Paswan, communal violence would have erupted in several cities”
Manjhi said that he was deeply hurt by the manner the bungalow was evicted and in-treatment meted out to the two stalwarts of the Dalit community — both Ambedkar and senior Paswan. He demanded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Sah to take stern action against those responsible for insulting the two Dalit protagonists.
Manjhi’s HAM is a part of the ruling NDA government in Bihar. His son Santosh Kumar is a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Earlier, leader of opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav tweeted, “The central team that went to vacate the 12 Janpath bungalow tossed the statue of Bharat Ratna B R Ambedkar and pho tograph of Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vilas Paswan in a derogatory manner.”
He also shared the video showing the eviction undertaken at the bungalow in Delhi’s posh Lutyens area, on Twitter on Saturday.