The BJP and the JD(U) in Bihar put up a united show on Monday to shut down the state in a 12-hour bandh against price rise, but the simmering tensions between the two allies over Narendra Modi spilled out onto the streets during the shutdown and resulted in group clashes followed by hot exchanges between leaders.
Senior leaders of the BJP and the JD(U) courted arrest in various towns across Bihar and Jharkhand during the near-total bandh. Newfound enthusiasm among the BJP supporters in Bihar over the likelihood of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s presence during the party’s campaign for the forthcoming Assembly polls-led many supporters to participate in the shutdown with large photographs of the BJP icon in their hands. JD(U) leaders and supporters disapproved of such overt display of love for the controversial leader and group clashes ensued in Patna and communally sensitive Bhagalpur.
In Patna’s Dak Bunglow Square, JD(U) supporters argued and clashed with BJP supporters holding Mr Modi’s posters after JD(U)’s Begusarai MP and former minister Monazir Hassan protested to the Modi pos-ters. This led to the BJP supporters shout slogans such as “Maulana Nitish” and then burn Hassan’s effigies.
In Bhagalpur, JD(U) supporters forcibly snatched away a banner with Mr Modi’s photograph from the hands of BJP supporters.