Tejashwi Yadav accuses Bihar govt of 'misusing' police against RJD candidate

Patna: Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, on Friday accused the state government of misusing state machinery to harass opposition leaders and workers.

Tejashwi Yadav shared a video of an incident on social media, reportedly recorded at the residence of Dr Sanjeev Kumar and his brother, Rajiv Kumar.

Sanjeev Kumar is the RJD candidate for the Patna Teachers’ constituency in the ongoing Bihar Legislative Council elections.

The video shows a police team checking the identity documents of people present outside the house.

When the police attempted to enter the premises, Sanjeev Kumar’s supporters objected and demanded to see the official authorisation for the search.

In the video, a police officer is heard explaining that the team had received information about the presence of outsiders at the residence after the permitted campaign period had ended.

The officer said the police would verify their identities and leave if no irregularities were found.

In the social post, Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the police had arrived without a search warrant and were attempting to intimidate the RJD candidate and his supporters.

He said such actions would not demoralise the party, asserting that neither RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav nor the party’s leaders and workers would be cowed by the government’s actions.

He also accused the state leadership of taking Bihar in the wrong direction and questioned the need for such a search just before polling.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Kumar’s supporters alleged that the BJP candidate and incumbent MLC, Naval Kishore Yadav, had created hundreds of fake voters and brought them to Patna.

They questioned why the police were searching the RJD candidate’s residence while, according to them, no similar action had been taken at Naval Kishore Yadav’s residence.

These allegations could not be independently verified.

Earlier, the Patna Police arrived at the residence of Dr Sanjeev Kumar, the RJD candidate, around midnight, triggering a heated exchange with his supporters.

The police said they had received information that outsiders were staying at the premises after the election campaign period ended and that their identities needed to be verified.

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