After protests by villagers, Haryana government ordered a CBI inquiry into the killing of two Dalit children. (Press Trust of India photo)
On a day when the BJP government in Haryana announced a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the murder of two Dalit children, who were burnt alive in their house, the politics over the incident is just beginning to escalate a few thousand kilometres away in poll-bound Bihar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took on the BJP by tweeting, "Shocked at this gruesome incident. Where are those now who claimed, bring our government, and everything will become better."
His alliance partner and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, Lalu Prasad too launched an aggressive attack on the BJP for the incident in a series of tweets aimed at Bihar's sizeable Dalit votebank.
"Before giving speeches in Bihar, PM Modi should answer till how long will Dalits and the backward classes be exploited and killed under their rule in Haryana and the Centre," he said
The BJP was quick to counter the allegations.
"What happened in Haryana is unfortunate... Lalu Ji seems to have forgotten that it was during his regime that maximum Dalits were killed in Bihar. Today he is shedding tears for votes," said BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Twitter.
But BJP's alliance partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Lok Janshakti Party blamed the Haryana government for the incident. Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said, "The state government is totally answerable. It is a law and order issue."
Dalits constitute nearly 15 per cent of the electorate in the state, and they are crucial to both the NDA and the grand alliance of Mr Kumar's Janata Dal (United), RJD and the Congress.
In Bihar, the BJP has traditionally drawn more support from Bihar's upper castes, but it has joined hands with Dalit leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan and Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi for the assembly elections.
In August, the NDA appointed a Dalit leader from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Nath Kovind, as the Governor of Bihar to make inroads into Mr Kumar's base among the state's Dalits and Mahadalits.