Just days ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, some miscreants vandalised a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in state capital Patna, triggering an outrage among people.
"A white marble statue of Gandhiji was damaged... it appears to be an act of anti-social elements. Police have begun an investigation into the incident," IANS quoted police official Ashok Pandey as saying.
The incident took place on the premises of Manoj Kamalia Stadium near Mangal Talab. Some morning walkers noticed the damaged bust on Tuesday.
Pataliputra Council secretary general Sanjeev Yadav claimed that the damaged Gandhi sculpture was placed at the stadium some five decades ago.
People have demanded the administration to take stern action against the culprits. Sub-divisional officer Anil Rai said the incident will be investigated and the broken bust will be replaced with a new one, according to a Prabhat Khabar report.
According to the report, the miscreants also tried to damage the mesh of Mahatma Gandhi's image at the gate of Mangal Talab. The city police have started the investigation to identify the miscreant.
The incident took place almost a week ahead of the first phase of polling in Bihar. The five-phase polls begin on 12 October and the results will be declared on 8 November.
The 2015 assembly election holds great importance in the history of Bihar politics as the BJP is trying to gain a foothold in the state, which has initially been ruled by the Congress, then Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD and later by Nitish Kumar-led JD(U).
Though the JD(U) ruled the state with the help of BJP for nearly eight years, the two parties' alliance ended about two years ago after Narendra Modi emerged as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate.
