Charging the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine with masterminding the attack on Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at an election rally at Nokha in which former Union minister Ravishanker Prasad was shot at, the BJP on Thursday demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident.
"There is a conspiracy hatched by our rivals and I was the target, and not Prasad or Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia, our candidate for Nokha. Fortunately, I escaped unhurt as I jumped from the dias," BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan said, while addressing a joint press conference with the Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP president in Bihar.
Asked to know who were behind the attack, Mahajan said, "In the language of Lalu Prasad, it is understood."
Modi, on the other hand, alleged that the RJD-Congress combine had hatched the cospiracy to 'kill Mahajan to deal a serious blow to the campaign launched by us'.
Saying that only a CBI probe could uravel the conspiracy behind the incident and bring the 'real faces' to justice, Mahajan also demanded immediate recall of Governor Buta Singh, as the incident had proved that fair, free and peaceful elections were not possible under Buta's rule.
"The Election Commission should also take serious note of the attack and direct the state authorities to take special steps for security of VIPs and senior political leaders," Mahajan said.
Meanwhile, the officer-in-charge of Nokha police station, Rajiv Kumar, was suspended on Thursday in connection with the attack.
The OC was suspended by the Rohtas superintendent of police Bachhu Singh Meena, on the charge of dereliction of duty, police sources said in Sasaram.
Irked over the attack on their leader, hundreds of National Democratic Alliance supporters led by Janata Dal (United) member of Parliament from Bikramganj, Ajit Kumar Singh, Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia and Jawahar Prasad, BJP candidates from Nokha and Sasaram respectively, had blocked the Grand Trunk Road at Sasaram, demanding immediate dismissal of Nokha police station OC for inadequate security at the rally venue.
The SP and district magistrate Vivek Singh visited the site and persuaded the agitators to lift the blockade. The agitators later removed the blockade, official sources said.
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