Congress demands 2-day session of Bihar Assembly to discuss 'crumbling' law and order and SIR

New Delhi: Congress on Saturday demanded a two-day session of Bihar Assembly to discuss the "crumbling" law and order in the state and impact of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls just months ahead of the elections.

Addressing a press conference, senior Rajya Sabha MP and former Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan should take note of developments in the state and impress upon the government to call an immediate session to discuss both the issues.

Singh's remarks came as a prominent Bihar-based businessman Gopal Khemka was shot dead outside his residence in Patna by a bike-borne assailant. However, he did not demand imposing President's Rule in the state even as he questioned why the law and order situation has deteriorated.

He claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is not in control of the administration and if he is sure that it was the "old Nitish, he would have put in his papers".

He also dismissed talks that the 'jungle-raj' accusations against ally RJD would impact the Grand Alliance's impact while saying that Nitish Kumar has been governing the state for past 20 years and he would be answerable on the issue.

"The murder of Khemka is an attack on the government. This is not the first incident," he said.

On SIR, he said that the Congress and its allies want the exercise to be rolled back, as around two crore voters stand a chance to lose their right to vote. "This is a conspiracy to ensure the victory of BJP. The Election Commission is working as per the instructions from the government," he said.

He said they will hit the streets as well as approach the courts, if the poll body goes ahead with the exercise.

Asked about the meeting with the EC, he said they expect better sense to prevail on the poll body. "We need to stop this injustice and save Bihar. Free and fair elections are the EC's responsibility...SIR is impossible in 25 days. When it was held in 2003, the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls were far away. Why is the EC doing it now?" he said.

Singh said many people do not have the documents specified by the EC and stand a chance to lose voting rights. "Who knows, I may also be out of the list," he added.