A week since the killing of influential businessman Gopal Khemka, who was shot dead outside his Patna residence, the Bihar capital witnessed another horror murder in which a BJP leader was gunned down. Two youngsters on a motorbike killed Bharatiya Janata Party leader Surendra Kewat in Sheikpura and fled. The 52-year-old received four bullet wounds in the shooting. He was taken to the AIIMS in Patna, but he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
MLA Gopal Ravidas and ex-Minister Shyam Rajak also arrived at the hospital and spoke to Kewat's relatives and requested the hospital administration to expedite completion of formalities. The police initiated their investigation into the murder, and forensic teams have been summoned. Raids are underway to arrest the accused.
"Surendra was at work in the fields when unknown men gunned him down. He was taken to AIIMS, but he succumbed to injuries during treatment. We have taken the statements of his relatives, and action is being taken," police officer Kanhaiya Singh said.
Surendra Kewat was a BJP Kisan Morcha leader who has previously worked, and his sudden murder has left the region in a state of panic, particularly given that it follows soon after businessman Gopal Khemka was killed in a shootout.
The killing of the BJP leader is the latest form of trouble for the Nitish Kumar government in the election year as it grapples with countering the Opposition's message on Bihar's law and order.
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Opposition Leader in the Assembly, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav, attacked the state government with an X post. "And now, a BJP leader murdered in Patna! What to say, and to whom? Is there anyone in the National Democratic Alliance government who can listen to the truth or apologise for their fault?"
"Everybody knows about the health of the CM, but what are the two redundant BJP deputy chief ministers up to?" he asked.
The RJD-Congress combine has been attempting to pin the BJP-Janata Dal (United) alliance down on the law and order front in the run-up to the elections, and political onslaughts have intensified in the wake of Gopal Khemka's murder just outside his residence in Patna. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, had earlier stated that the BJP government and Nitish Kumar administration joined hands to turn India's crime capital. "Bihar is now surviving in the shadow of loot, bullets and killings. Crime has become the new normal and the government has totally failed," he wrote on X.
"Bihar's sisters and brothers, this injustice cannot continue anymore. The government which cannot protect your children cannot take charge of your future. Each murder, loot and bullet is a cry for change. It is time that a new Bihar is formed where progress, and not fear, will abide. This is not an election merely to bring change in the government but to save Bihar," he stated.
Retaliating, Union Minister and past Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has blamed the RJD for supporting criminals to defame the state government. "Criminals are no longer welcomed in Bihar Chief Minister's house. They are killed. People who are raising questions on law and order should realise this," he said.
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