Patna, May 29 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Phalguni Yadav, who broke his leg after Bihar's Food and Consumer Minister Narendra Singh allegedly pushed him from a podium at a public meeting in Jamui district, Thursday charged that it was an attempt to kill him.
The incident followed a heated exchange of words between the two. Singh is a senior leader of the state's ruling Janata Dal - United (JD-U), while the BJP is a partner in the ruling coalition.
Yadav was first taken to a local hospital in Jamui, about 200 km from the state capital here. Later, he was brought to Patna Medical College and Hospital.
“It was an attempt to kill me. I am facing threat to life. I had apprehended time and again in the recent past that my life is under threat as Singh wanted to eliminate me," Yadav told IANS here Thursday.
Yadav said that he clearly mentioned in the complaint made to the police in Jamui Wednesday evening that it was a murderous attack on him by Singh and his son Abhay Singh, a JD-U legislator.
”The way I was attacked at the public meeting and pushed from the podium, there was no doubt that they wanted to kill me," he said.
”It was just a chance that only my leg fractured and I sustained injuries on my back.”
Yadav threatened to resign from the state assembly if denied justice. ”I will request Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to drop Singh from the cabinet and take stern action against him and his son,” he said.
Earlier, an angry BJP demanded action against Singh and urged Nitish Kumar's intervention.
In a joint statement, BJP leaders Lal Babu Prasad and Anil Sharma said their party would not tolerate humiliation of a senior leader like Yadav, a legislator from Chakai.
Singh denied the allegations and said that nothing had happened. JD-U is also keeping mum on the issue.
It is not the first time that Singh has made news for the wrong reason.
Last year, he faced criticism for allegedly pushing an elderly woman in Bhagalpur district when she went up to him to ask for a job, leading to a fracture in her arm. Singh denied he had pushed her.
Soon after the formation of the Nitish Kumar government in November 2005, he reportedly abused and threatened a judicial magistrate at the gate of the assembly.
Opposition parties including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have demanded action against Singh and his resignation on moral grounds.
(IANS)