Bihar’s budget session descended into uproar Tuesday as Congress staged a symbolic yet scathing protest against the government’s law and order debacle. MLAs swarmed the assembly area pre-session, escalating their assault on the ruling dispensation with placards, effigies, and unrelenting chants.
At the forefront, Abhishek Ranjan of Chhaptiya paraded an effigy of the state machinery, humorlessly festooned with bangles to signify impotence. He detailed a horrifying crime spree, from the unsolved hostel death of a Jehanabad girl to the rape and murder of a child in Darbhanga, warning that Bihar’s legal framework has crumbled.
Affixed notes on the effigy listed offenses where justice is deferred, criminals roam free, and officialdom opts for verbosity over vigilance. Ranjan’s clarion call for CM Nitish Kumar’s resignation emphasized immediate interventions: rigorous prosecutions, fortified protections for females, and a shift from apathy to empathy.
Opposition alleges vendettas via file probes when crimes demand focus. Building on Monday’s Legislative Council melee featuring Nitish and Rabri Devi, the episode reveals systemic rot. As public faith erodes amid daily horrors, Congress positions itself as the voice of reform, pressing for accountability in a state plagued by fear. The assembly’s future sessions may well determine if change is forthcoming or if political theater prevails.