Oppn hold protests outside Bihar Assembly on rising crime and SIR

Patna, July 21 (IANS) As the Monsoon session of the Bihar Assembly begins on Monday, opposition parties held a protest outside the House, raising issues of law and order, unemployment, and the ongoing voter list revision in the state.

State Congress President Rajesh Ram, along with Leader of the Congress Legislative Party Shakeel Ahmed Khan and other MLAs, protested outside the Assembly carrying banners and posters while raising slogans against the NDA government in Bihar.

The Congress leaders demanded accountability from the Nitish Kumar-led government over the rising crime in Bihar.

Shakeel Ahmed Khan said, "The youth of Bihar are troubled by unemployment and forced migration. In such a situation, does the Assembly need to run without addressing these issues? The government will not want to answer the Opposition's questions; it only wants to pass Bills."

He also alleged that neither the Bihar government nor the Central government is willing to listen to the concerns of the Opposition.

"We will try to corner the state government inside and outside the House with the questions of the people. The law-and-order situation has deteriorated, and 'goonda raj' has been established in Bihar," he claimed.

Meanwhile, Left party MLAs also staged a separate protest outside the Assembly before the Monsoon session began, wearing black clothes and carrying posters to protest against the ongoing voter list revision before the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

They demanded that the special voter revision process be stopped immediately.

Raising slogans and displaying posters with slogans like "Election thief, leave the throne," the Left leaders alleged that the voter list revision was a conspiracy to remove the names of the poor and minorities from the electoral rolls with the collusion of the Election Commission and the Central government.

The opposition parties in Bihar have been consistently opposing the voter list revision since the process began.

The Monsoon session is expected to witness intense confrontation between the ruling NDA and the Grand Alliance in Bihar.

While the Bihar government plans to introduce and pass around 12 Bills during the session, the Opposition has prepared to corner the government on law and order, voter list revision, and unemployment.

--IANS

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