Tejashwi kickstarts cycle rally against Nitish govt

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav today attacked the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar over the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal and slammed the Chief Minister for maintaining a "criminal silence" over the issue.

The leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, whose over 100-km-long cycle march titled "NDA Bhagao Beti Bachao" began here, alleged that women in Bihar were feeling increasingly unsafe and insecure but the government was busy "protecting" the accused instead of bringing them to justice.

"The situation in Bihar today is reminiscent of the horrific episodes in Ramayana and Mahabharata wherein Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and Draupadi was disrobed in public at the instance of Duryodhana. The women of the state are never going to forgive this government", the RJD heir apparent said.

"We cannot remain a mute spectator to the travails of our women folk and that is why this cycle rally, which will conclude in Patna on Monday, is being taken out. We are thankful to the support that our campaign has received from allies like Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and like-minded parties like Samajwadi Party, BSP and NCP," Yadav said while cycling through the streets of the town, clad in T-shirt and trousers.

Pointing to former Chief Minister and HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi, who joined the cycle rally for some distance, Yadav said "I fully agree with his view that the amendments to the prohibition law passed in the Assembly earlier this week were insufficient."