Centre trying to divert attention from Bihar caste survey, says RJD's Manoj Jha
New Delhi/Srinagar (PTI): RJD leader Manoj Jha on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led Centre over the arrest of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and said the government is trying to distract people from the results of the Bihar caste survey.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also hit out at the BJP, saying the ruling party seems to be on a spree to arrest opposition leaders ahead of next year's general elections and accused it of destroying the level playing field.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday raided Singh's home in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy and later arrested him.
Jha said, "Sanjayji, our friend in the Rajya Sabha, has not been arrested just by the ED. He has been arrested by the BJP's ancillary organisations, which includes the ED, I-T (Income Tax department) and the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation)."
"The dark days have started. Yesterday (Tuesday), journalists linked with NewsClick were targeted, today Sanjayji was arrested. Meanwhile, look at the background, the caste survey report came out and the prime minister is hassled. They have to do headline management and also scare the opposition," he said.
The RJD leader also predicted that such actions will continue.
"They have no political instrument left ... They are targeting each and every opposition leader to scare us. The 'dictator' is scared himself," Jha said.
The Bihar government on Monday released the data of the caste-based survey. According the survey report, among the total population size of 13,07,25,310 (13.07 crore), Bihar has 63 per cent people in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) categories.
The survey found that Scheduled Castes (SC) constitute over 19 per cent of the state's population while 1 per cent of the people come under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba alleged that central agencies are being misused and weaponised at the behest of the BJP.
She said in a post on X, "(The) ruling party seems to be on an arresting spree only to destroy whatever is left of the level playing field in the run-up to (the) general elections."
"Central agencies are being weaponised and misused on the BJPs behest. But then again its the same party that almost changed the name of this country owing to its insecurity about the INDIA alliance," she added.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
