Omkar Dattatray
The Jungle Raj again returned in the state of Bihar as a result of the coalition government of JDU of Nitesh Kumar and RJD of Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Nitish Kumar and the son of Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav have come closer and have cobbled an unnatural and unholy alliance of the north pole and south pole. Now Uncle and cousin have allied and have formed a coalition government in Bihar. The BJP which has been ousted from the old government is accusing that the jungle Raj has returned to haunt the people of Bihar and there is some truth and substance in the criticism by the BJP that the Jungle Raj has returned to Bihar. The epithet, occurrence and experience of Jungle raj is not new for the gullible people of Bihar as the state had experienced it for many years during the government of Lalu Prasad Yadav. No less than the high court of Bihar on 5th August 1997 has used the word Jungle Raj for the first time while hearing a write petition of a social worker Krishan Sahi and the high court has commented that there is no government in Bihar and corrupt officers are running the government and Jungle raj had been established in Bihar. This was the beginning of the word and from this day the politicians used the word Jungle raj to describe the government of Bihar. Thus the government of RJD of Lalu is synonymous with the jungle Raj because that there was total lawlessness and the rule of the gangsters in the state of Bihar. Now with the coming closer of the Nitish Kumar and Tejaswhi Yadav and forming of the coalition government the Jungle Raj has returned to the state of Bihar once again and the common people of the state will have to bear the brunt of lawlessness. All talk of the good governance of Sushashan Babu is humbug and it is no where seen on the ground. The Sushassan Babu Raj has turned into lawlessness and rowdiness and there is Jungle Raj through and through and the man in the street is suffering in the Jungle Raj as there is no semblance of law and justice in Bihar which is reeling into lawlessness and gangster raj.
The moot question is where from the Jungle Raj has come in Nitish government? Have the crimes declined in Nitish government as compared to the earlier government of Lalu and Rabri Davi? Why is the period from 1990 to 2005 called the jungle Raj in Bihar? Where from the word Jungle Raj has come into the political lexicon in Bihar? What is the difference between the crime rate in the government of Lalu and Nitish Kumar? Which are the sad happenings which dented the image of Bihar? The pertinent question is why is there talk of jungle Raj in Bihar in the new coalition government of JDU and RJD. The crimes like loot, plunder, murderers and the atmosphere of fear is ruling the roost in Bihar under the new government of Nitish Kumar. Two journalists were murdered in Bihar in two separate incidents on 10the and 11th August. Again on August 11 there was a big loot in a car show room. There was the brutal and barbaric killing of a Hindu priest in Batia where the priest was murdered by silting his neck. On 18th August an army man was murdered in broad day light. The question arises where from has the word Jungle Raj entered Bihar politics, the fact is that it has been used in elections. In 2020 state assembly election Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has used the word Jungle raj umpteenth times. The BJP is attacking the new government of Nitish Kumar continuously. The happening of the crimes in Bihar under the Nitesh government has forced BJP to call it as the return of the era of jungle Raj. In the capital city of Patna a young girl was killed after Nitish assumed the power and formed his new coalition government. What were the happenings in Bihar in the Lalu-Rabri sarkars that point to the fact that the Bihar is reeling in jungle Raj and it has dented the image of Bihar state. The ex-minister Dr Pream Kumar has said that once again jungle Raj has begun in Bihar. The BJP has time and again played the role of the king maker in Bihar.
The BJP has not done the role of king maker only once but six times the party has performed the role of king maker and made Nitish the CM of Bihar and they have done this blunder six times in the recent past and this is the sad state of affairs. There was always deceit and ill intention in the mind of Nitesh Kumar. In 2010 NDA had got big mandate in Bihar and when there were talks of the candidature of Modi as the PM ,then there was pain in the belly of Nitish kumar. In 2013 Modi was invited to a big feast and Nitish came out of the NDA and made government with RJD and congress. In 2014 general elections Nitesh’s JDU fought elections on 40 Lok Sabha seats. The pressmen questioned Bihar chief minister Nitish kumar over lawlessness and consequent Jangle raj but he was uneasy on this question and said that at that the appropriate time he will answer this question. The CM Nitish kumar had been cornered over giving the ministerial birth to Kartikya Kumar law minister and consumer affairs minister Lokesh Singh both these ministers have criminal cases against them. The crimes which are taking place in Bihar after the assumption of power by the Nitish Kumar has forced the BJP to call the situation as the return of the jungle Raj. The opposition is saying that the Jungle Raj has once again begun in Bihar thanks to the coalition government of JDU and RJD. The criminals have murdered 16 year young girl in Patna Bihar the other day in brutal way. In 1990 Lalu Prasad was the chief minister of Bihar. This was the period in Bihar when there was the increase in the control of the mightiest people and gangsters in the Bihar society. After the 1990 era the crime events one after the other took place and it created difficulty for the government of RJP headed by Lalu. Lalu Prasad was also jailed in different cases of fodder scam. He was also held guilty by the court in the fodder case. Besides this he was held guilty in disproportionate income case. As per journalist Arun Sinha in that era there was freedom for the rowdy elements and those who created troubles for the common man and there was also freedom to the violence creators and trouble shooters. In small cities there were extortions and dacoits common.
In the rule of Lalu and Rabri the situation in Bihar was one of complete jungle raj. The kidnappings, rapes, gang rapes, extortions, loot, plunder and murderers were common scenes. The period of these two chief ministers were the worst kind of lawlessness which can be characterized as the jungle raj. Now with the coalition government of uncle – cousin that is the coming together once again of the JDU and RJD, the conditions in Bihar state resemble the jungle raj as there is complete lawlessness and an atmosphere and free for all in Bihar and the violence creators and gangsters’ and other rowdy elements Rome freely and feel encouraged to commit crimes against innocent people. There is increase in murderers, extortions, killings, kidnappings and rapes in the Bihar these days and thus the security atmosphere is one of fear and suspicion and can surely be called as the jungle raj.BJP has said that after the assumption of the reigns of the government there has been continued increase in crimes and murderers in Bihar and the situation resembles jungle raj. The BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has said that between August 10-12, there were murderers of the journalists including several persons and one Hindu Priest was killed by silting his throat. During this time there were some incidents of the rapes in the state too. The BJP has said that the various crimes have taken place in Bihar after the installation of the coalition government of JDU and RJD and the government seems unconcerned over these increasing crime incidents. Therefore BJP spokesman Simbit Patra has said that jungle raj has returned one again in Bihar. There were several incidents of rapes in Bihar. Besides this some people have died after consuming poisonous wine in Chappra and this all is a cause of concern and is very unfortunate. Sambit Patra has further said that lawlessness has fast spread in Bihar and it will not be the exaggeration to say that Jungle raj has returned in Bihar. In Patna the criminals are in high spirits and a girl student was shot at by the goons in broad day light and in Gopalgunj a bank was looted and lakhs of the money was stolen. In Bihar the criminals are fearless and they perform crimes without any fear of the law enforcing agencies. All this makes it obvious that Bihar has returned to Jungle raj once again as there is complete lawlessness in the state which justifies calling that Jungle Raj has returned back in Bihar.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).
