Opposition parties have attacked Bihar's incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Munger violence. (File)
Opposition leaders Tejashwi Yadav, Chirag Paswan and Abhishek Manu Singhvi have attacked Bihar's incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the clashes between the police and some "anti-social" elements in Bihar's Munger on Monday.
They have compared the Bihar's police brutality with that of General Dyer's during Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 on the festival of Baisakhi.
An 18-year-old man was shot dead and some people, including security personnel, were injured in firing and stone-pelting after clashes during the immersion of Goddess Durga.
"What was Bihar's Chief Minister doing? What was his deputy Sushil Modi - a BJP leader - doing? This (inaction) shows their role in the incident... Who gave you (the police) the order to become General Dyer? We want to know what has Sushil Modi ji done other than tweet...," Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav said as polling started on 71 of the 243 seats in Bihar today.
RJD's ally Congress also criticised the incident. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said he was "distraught" by images of Munger violence.
"Such an attack on the devotees of the Mother?... The Nitish Kumar government has reminded (the country) of General Dyer today," he tweeted, demanding an apology from "Sushashan babu" Nitish Kumar.
Mr Singhvi also cited figures of the National Crime Records Bureau stating that crime has increased 150 per cent in Bihar since 2005.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan made a similar attack on the JD(U) and BJP, comparing the incumbent government's rule to that of the Taliban after Munger violence.
"Who is responsible for the firing and lathicharge in Munger? Chief Minister is now playing the role of General Dyer who ordered the Jallianwala massacre. I am sure CM is responsible for the incident, an investigation should be done," Mr Paswan said, demanding transfer of Superintendent of Police Lipi Singh.
Tejashwi Yadav has backed this demand.
You know the lady officer in the police team that lathicharged devotees is the daughter of a JD(U) leader, he said without naming Lipi Singh.
Mr Yadav also sought "immediate transfer" of the District Magistrate, strict action against the accused, and that the probe into the incident should be overseen by a High Court committee.
Bihar's law and order system has crumbled, he said and targeted Mr Modi for his comment linking crime to unemployment.
"He (Sushil Modi) had requested criminals with folded hands to not take to crime during the holy month of pitrapaksha. He had told criminals to continue with their activities later," said Mr Yadav, who is often attacked with the "jungle raj" jibe - a reference to his parents' terms as chief ministers in the state.
"Imagine what can happen (in the future) if the deputy chief minister of a state surrenders in front of criminals like this... the BJP leaders, who used to question the state's law and order situation, should explain (what happened in Munger)," he said.
Political parties contesting the high-stakes Bihar polls have been targeting each other on the state of Bihar's law and order situation, record unemployment, inflation, the migrant crisis, and crumbling health infrastructure for weeks, with allegations and jibes flying thick and fast amid feverish campaigning.
The Bihar Assembly election result will be declared on November 10.