A day after a CBI team investigating alleged irregularities in UGC-NET exam was attacked in Bihar’s Nawada, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has taken a ‘jungle raj’ jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, weeks after he used the term to hit out at the RJD.
“Mr Prime Minister, see the jungleraj in Bihar in your era. The CBI team that reached Nawada to investigate the UGC NET paper leak was attacked. Paper leak under your government, attack on CBI under your government and jungle raj someone else’s?” he said.
प्रधानमंत्री जी, आपके पावन सानिध्य में बिहार में व्याप्त जंगलराज का नज़ारा देखिए। नवादा में #UGC–#NET पेपर धांधली की जाँच करने पहुँची #CBI की टीम पर हमला! पेपर लीक आपकी सरकार में, CBI पर हमला आपकी सरकार में। और जंगलराज किसी ओर का?pic.twitter.com/YGHaGIXN9c
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) June 24, 2024
The RJD’s political rivals have often used ‘jungle raj’ to describe the 15-year-rule of the RJD in Bihar when party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and then his wife Rabri Devi were Chief Ministers.
In the run-up to this general election, top BJP leaders, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repeatedly used the ‘jungle raj’ expression for the RJD’s rule and said it was the NDA rule under Nitish Kumar that took the state out of ‘dark era’. Tejashwi Yadav’s use of the ‘jungle raj’ expression in connection with the attack on the CBI team is, therefore, a sharp counterstrike to the BJP’s offensive.
The CBI team attacked in Nawada yesterday had gone there in the course of its investigation into alleged irregularities in UGC-NET examination.
UGC-NET is a test to determine a candidate’s eligibility for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, and also for the award of research fellowships. Amid the protests over irregularities in the NEET-UG exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses, the Education Ministry scrapped the UGC-NET just a day after it was held.
The exam was conducted by the National Testing Agency, already under fire for irregularities in NEET. Over 11 lakh students registered for the exam. The Education Ministry said the decision to cancel the exam was taken after inputs that its integrity may have been compromised. The CBI is now probing the matter.
The CBI team in Nawada was attacked yesterday when it reached Kasiyadih village to look for some suspects.
“A team of CBI officials was gheroed, manhandled and attacked by a group of villagers in Kasiyadih village, under the jurisdiction of Rajauli police station, at around 4.30 pm on Saturday,” office of the Superintendent of Police of Nawada said in a statement.
“Immediately after receiving the information, a team of police officials led by the station house officer (SHO) of the Rajauli police station reached the spot and pacified the villagers, following which the situation was brought under control,” it said.
Police have registered a case and arrested four people in connection with the incident. The driver of the CBI vehicle reportedly sustained a minor injury in the attack.
