‘If you have real power...’: Tejashwi Yadav dares Nitish Kumar govt to arrest him
Yadav’s comments came after a case was filed against him and 18 other leaders from the constituents of the Grand Alliance-led opposition in Bihar for protesting without permission amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav hit out at the Nitish Kumar led Bihar government, daring it to arrest him for protesting in support of farmers’ demands to repeal the Centre’s three contentious farm laws. Yadav’s comments came after a case was filed against him and 18 other leaders from the constituents of the Grand Alliance-led opposition in Bihar for protesting without permission amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The first information report (FIR) has been registered against them under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Epidemic Diseases Act. An FIR was also lodged against 500 unidentified people.
“The government of Bihar, led by a cowardly chief minister, has lodged an FIR against me for raising the voice in support of the farmers. If you have any real power, then arrest me. If you do not, I will surrender myself. I am even ready to be hanged for farmers,” Yadav, the leader of opposition in Bihar, tweeted in Hindi.
The RJD, along with other Mahagathbandhan parties, had on Saturday held a demonstration in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan in solidarity with agitating farmers across the country. Reacting to the charges, the RJD had also called Nitish Kumar, a “coward” and criticised the government for booking Yadav using “false pretexts”.
“The Bihar government has shown its two-faced character by using false and shallow pretexts to book Tejashwi Yadav for standing with the farmers and protesting in their support. For farmers, we are not scared of even a thousand such FIRs,” the party proclaimed.
While the fifth round of talks on Saturday with farmer group leaders remained inconclusive, the Centre has announced another meeting on December 9. Farmers’ leaders have said that they will go ahead with the proposed Bharat Bandh called by the protesting farmers on December 8.
The farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
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