A day after the RJD won from the Araria Lok Sabha constituency, Union Minister Giriraj Singh stoked a huge controversy on Thursday when he said the Muslim-dominated area would "now become a safe haven for terrorists."
The byelection to Ararai Lok Sabha seat took place on March 11 and the result for the same was declared on Wednesday evening.
RJD candidate Sarfaraz Alam defeated the BJP's Pradeep Singh by around 60,000 votes despite an aggressive campaign by the NDA.
Sarfaraz is the son of former Union minister Md Taslimuddin, whose death necessitated the bypoll.
Apprehending that the district, which has a sizeable population of Muslims (around 40%) have adopted a "radical ideology" (in reference to the election of Sarfaraz), Giriraj said that place "would soon become a hub of terror."
Araria, incidentally, shares its border with both Nepal (in the north) and Bangladesh (in the east).
Similar allegations were made by Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai, too, last week when he said if people voted for the RJD, "Araria would become a hub of the Pak intelligence agency - the ISI."
An FIR was lodged against the Bihar BJP chief on March 10 on the directive of the Election Commission for violating the model code of conduct.
Rabri reacts
Reacting to Giriraj's charge, former chief minister Rabri Devi said the minister's utterances were highly deplorable and an insult to the voters of Araria.
"We strongly condemn Giriraj's statements. Either he should apologise, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should drop him from his Council of Ministers for trying to divide the society on communal lines," said Rabri here on Thursday.
