Rajgir/Gayaji (Bihar), Jun 6 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar over the law and order situation, alleging that the state has turned into the “crime capital of India”.

Addressing the ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’ in Nalanda’s Rajgir, Gandhi also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “remaining silent” on US President Donald Trump’s claims of brokering peace between India and Pakistan during the military conflict.

“Bihar, once considered the land of peace and justice, has now turned into the crime capital of India,” the former Congress president asserted.

Gandhi also said he was apprehensive whether the Centre could properly conduct the caste census with no officers from the OBC, Dalit or tribal communities finalising the questionnaire.

“The Modi government will never conduct a real caste census, because the day they conduct a real caste census, their politics will end. There are two models of caste census – a BJP model and the Telangana model. In the BJP model, officers will decide the questions in a closed room. No officers from the OBC, Dalit or tribal communities are there in the select group of officers”, said Gandhi.

Telangana is ruled by the Congress.

“I am fighting for the caste census to save the Constitution and for the overall betterment of the country… Wherever we form government in future, we will remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations. It will start from Bihar,” he said.

“The PM used to say in every speech: ‘I belong to OBC’. Then on the caste census, they say that there is no caste in India,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader wondered how Narendra Modi became an OBC if there is no caste in the country.

On the military conflict between India and Pakistan, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha added: “A call came from Trump and Narendra Modi ji immediately surrendered. Trump himself has said it (about brokering peace) publicly at least 11 times. But, the PM is silent on the issue. I know he has nothing to say on this.” Prior to this, Gandhi visited the Dashrath Manjhi memorial at Gehlaur, around 40 km from Gayaji town.

Manjhi had carved a path, 360 feet long and 30 feet wide, through a ridge of hills using only a hammer and a chisel. After 22 years of work, he singlehandedly shortened the distance between his village and Wazirganj, where the nearest hospital is located, from 55 km to 15 km. He started constructing the road in 1960 following the death of his injured wife on the way to the hospital.

The Raebareli MP also interacted with family members of Manjhi at Gehlaur village.

Manjhi’s son Bhagirath, who recently quit Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) to join the Congress, on Friday disclosed that he wanted a party ticket in the upcoming assembly polls.

Bhagirath spoke to PTI Video ahead of Gandhi’s visit to Gehlaur.

He said, “You can look at our house. We still do not have a pucca house. The first thing that I would like to request of Rahul Gandhi is to provide us with a pucca house”. PTI COR SSS NAC PKD RBT NN