1,111 arrests made during Agnipath protests: Bihar Minister

While BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal was attacking the Nitish Kumar government over the massive violence during the Agnipath protests, state Energy Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav asked him about the 1,111 arrests made during the agitation.

Sanjay Jaiswal during the Agnipath protest had criticised the Nitish Kumar government for not acting against the mob, which led to massive scale in violence in several districts.

"The Bihar Police has arrested 1,111 persons involved in the arson during the Agnipath protest. The opposition leaders are demanding to release the youths arrested during Agnipath agitation. If Bihar Police had not acted against the agitators then how could 1,111 persons be lodged behind the bars. Jaiswal should answer on it," said Yadav, who is a minister from the Janata Dal (United) quota in the NDA coalition government led by Nitish Kumar in Bihar.

"The opposition leaders are not allowing the monsoon session to run smoothly. They are protesting in and outside of the house and demanding immediate release of the agitators. Then who is on the right side, opposition leaders or Sanjay Jaiswal and other BJP leaders," Yadav said.

"We are running the government under a coalition and BJP should respect the sentiments of the alliance before reacting or blaming us," Yadav said.