JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad on Saturday reacted to Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s criticism of law and order under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, and said politicians should look within themselves, and practice what they preached. Union Minister Chirag Paswan during the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.(PTI)

“The politicians should look within themselves. Whenever a responsible politician speaks about good governance, law and order, they should also demonstrate it in their own conduct,” the JD(U) leader was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

In a veiled jab at Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram-Vilas), he advised leaders to “first ensure that they do not induct people with criminal antecedents in their party”, news agency PTI reported.

Rajiv Ranjan’s remarks come in light of Chirag Paswan’s fresh attack on the Bihar government, wherein he said he felt sad to support a government incapable of curbing crime. Paswan’s party is part of the NDA coalition.

“I feel sad that I am supporting a government where crime has become uncontrolled,” Paswan said, asserting that the administration in the state “bowed down” to criminals.

“There is a series of crimes. If it continues like this, the situation would be frightening, rather, it has become so,” Chirag Paswan said earlier on Saturday. Paswan questioned how criminals were getting away with the crimes, and asserted that the onus to manage law and order was on the administration.

“How are criminals getting away with the crimes under your administration…Or the administration is trying to cover up the situation, or the administration is completely incapable of handling the situation,” he said.

When asked about his remarks, the JD(U) spokesperson laid out data from a crime index, and said Bihar was still ahead of 18 states in terms of handling of law and order. “If we look at the law and order of Bihar, the latest figures of NCRB are till 2022. In the crime index, Bihar is at number 19. It is clear that the picture of law and order is better than in eighteen states,” he said.

Chirag Paswan’s salvo at the Bihar government came amid rising cases of crimes in the state. The latest incident that sparked huge uproar was the alleged gangrape of a 26-year-old woman, participating in a Home Guard recruitment drive.

The incident allegedly took place when she was being transported to a hospital in an ambulance after she collapsed during a physical test.

Before this, the murder of a gangster at a hospital in Patna made headlines after CCTV footage showed armed men entering the ICU and shooting the gangster. Five people were arrested in connection with the case.

(With PTI, ANI inputs)