Is there 'Mangal Raj' in Haryana, asks Nitish Kumar

Muzaffarpur/Patna: Hitting back at BJP over its jibe of return of "jungle raj" in Bihar if the Grand Secular Alliance is voted to power in the state, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday questioned whether there was 'Mangal raj' in Haryana where two children of a Dalit family were allegedly burnt to death.

"They (BJP leaders) did nothing and now they are trying to create a kind of fear of jungle raj in the state. There is rule of law in Bihar and it will remain so ... Dalit children were burnt to death in Haryana. Is it a Mangal Raj (in Haryana)?" Kumar asked while addressing a public meeting in Minapur constituency in Muzaffarpur district.

Asking people to be keep away from the BJP, he said the Haryana incident showed the kind of mentality the party's leaders possess.

"You don't need to waste your votes ... BJP has nothing to do with development," Kumar said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been hitting out Nitish-Lalu duo in his public rallies warning people of return of 'Jungle Raj' in Bihar if the duo comes to power once again.

Referring to BJP's allegations of poor law and order situation in Bihar, he targetted Modi's home state of Gujarat where rural bodies elections have been postponed.

"The elections of local rural bodies could not be held due to poor law and order situation in Gujarat ... Elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir despite difficulties and problems in the state ... Elections in Bihar were never postponed," Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Congress, one of the three constituents of Grand Secular Alliance along with JD(U) and RJD, on Friday asked the Prime Minister and BJP President Amit Shah to break their silence on Union Minister VK Singh's dog remark and urged the Prime Minister to sack him from the ministry.

"Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have not spoken a word on such a sensitive issue (dog remark). This shows the mindset of BJP and its central leadership which is reflected in General V K Singh's remark. They do not differentiate between a man and a dog," Bihar PCC president Ashok Choudhary said in Patna.