Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that the Ram Navami violence in Biharsharif and Samsara was 'planned thoroughly' ahead of the state assembly elections next year.
As life in Bihar slowly moves back to normalcy with the partial relaxation of prohibitory orders, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has blamed held BJP responsible for the RamNavami clashes that unleashed violence in Bihar's Nalanda and Rohtas districts last week.
Kumar, the chief of Janata Dal (United) in alliance with Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal said that the violence in Biharsharif and Samsara was "planned thoroughly" ahead of the assembly elections next year.
The chief minister further noted that Samsara was chosen because Union Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to visit there on Sunday and Biharsharif was the town of the CM and the saffron party wanted to tarnish his image.
"There was no administrative laxity. The riots were orchestrated deliberately and those behind the incident will be known soon. Just wait, door-to-door searches are on... it was all done by one who is ruling and their agent," the Chief Minister said.
According to media reports, Kumar referred to BJP and AIMIM respectively by the words "ruling" and "agent". Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a Muslim party has been expanding its base in Bihar.
Clashes broke out in Nalanda's Biharsharif town on Friday when a large procession of Ram Navami was passing through areas with a minority population. The preplanned procession started from Shram Kalyan and concluded three kilometres away at Maniram ka Akhada.
As violence broke out, one person succumbed to bullet injuries and several people were left injured. Following the incident, Section 144 was imposed in the affected areas and the internet was suspended. Further, a heavy police force was deployed.
All government and private schools were ordered to remain shut till April 4 after six people were injured in a blast in Sasaram town of Rohtas district. The blast was reported on Saturday evening in Sherganj locality where the Bihar Police arrested two people in connection with the blast. Although the situation is returning to normal, internet service is still suspended and police are doing flag marches.