Chief minister Nitish Kumar has lost his will to govern Bihar: BJP

The BJP on Monday slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for communal violence in the state, saying he seems to have lost his will to govern and asked him to "stop dreaming about becoming prime minister and instead take care of the state".

While former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned Kumar's willingness to handle the situation, former Bihar deputy CM and MP Sushil Kumar Modi hit out at the state's ruling alliance leaders for blaming the BJP and right wing organisations for violence wondering as to why the government has then not then exposed such a conspiracy.

"If it is a BJP conspiracy, then why did you not expose it? Lakhs of people who participated in Ram Navami processions across the state are not BJP members but belong to the Hindu society. They can be from any party. For the first time in his over 17 years tenure as CM, Nitish Kumar has been unable to control such a situation even after so many days," Modi said.

Prasad said no incident was reported last year as adequate security deployment was made. Why strict measures were not taken this year, he asked.

Both leaders said violence was reported from places which are "known sensitive areas" but still preventing measures were not taken.

"Innocent people have been killed. It seems Nitish Kumar has lost his will to govern. Nitish ji stop dreaming about becoming prime minister and instead take care of the state," Prasad told PTI.

RJD MLA and spokesperson Bhai Virendra alleged that the BJP wants riots to take place for political benefits. He claimed that the BJP vitiated atmosphere due to its leader and Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the state on Saturday and Sunday.

Shah addressed a rally on Sunday and hit out at the ruling RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance for the violence.

On Sunday, at a joint press conference, the state's chief secretary and the DGP had asserted that the communal disturbances, which were triggered during Ram Navami festivities, were brought fully under control and more than 100 people were arrested from the two riot-hit towns of Sasaram and Bihar Sharif.