BJP leader Nityanand Rai addressing the media on the Bihar Elections at the BJP office in Patna, Bihar, on Sunday, October 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Moorthy R.V.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Sunday criticised the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) 15-year tenure from 1990 to 2005, describing it as “unfortunate for Bihar.”
Addressing a press conference at the State office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna, the senior BJP leader said that if anyone was responsible for Bihar’s plight during those years, “it was the RJD and Lalu Prasad’s family.”
Mr. Rai alleged that the RJD’s rule was synonymous with crime, massacre, kidnapping, and what he termed “jungle raj”.
“Everyone knows during its rule from 1990 to 2005, the RJD turned Bihar into a hub of robbery, kidnapping, murder, and rape. People were afraid to leave their homes. The situation in the State was so dire that even schoolchildren were abducted,” Mr. Rai said.
Citing government data, he claimed that more than 32,000 kidnappings occurred in Bihar during the period. Mr. Rai asserted that kidnapping had become an industry, alleging that its “operators and protectors” were none other than the Lalu family and the RJD.
“Can Tejashwi Yadav deny that more than 32,000 kidnappings did not occur during RJD’s 15-year rule? Can Tejashwi Yadav deny that all kidnapping deals were not conducted from the Chief Minister’s residence? Can Tejashwi Yadav deny that the kidnappers did not receive protection from the Lalu family? Can Tejashwi Yadav deny that the money for kidnappings did not reach the Chief Minister’s residence directly? Answer the people of Bihar, Tejaswi Yadav,” Mr. Rai said.
The former Bihar BJP president and Lok Sabha MP from Ujiarpur further claimed that 18,136 murders were committed in broad daylight during the RJD’s tenure. He alleged that many of those involved were either RJD legislators, district presidents, or close associates of the party.
Mr. Rai also charged that the RJD presided over a “genocidal reign” in the State. “During the 15 years from 1990 to 2005, 59 major caste massacres took place, killing over 600 people. Yet, Lalu Prasad refrained from even showing sensitivity to the incidents. I challenge Tejashwi Yadav: If you have the courage, admit that massacres took place in Bihar under your government’s patronage,” he said.
He asked what steps were taken by the then government in response to these massacres. Mr. Rai also alleged that Patna’s businessmen and shopkeepers “have not forgotten the day when shops were looted in broad daylight for the wedding of Mr. Prasad’s daughter.”
Accusing the RJD of corruption, Mr. Rai named the fodder scam, land-for-jobs scam, bitumen scam, IRCTC hotel scam, and the “soil scam at Patna Zoo” as examples.
Accompanied by Bihar BJP media incharge Danish Iqbal and MLC Sanjay Mayukh, the Minister further alleged that more than 700 people, including over 50 policemen, were killed in electoral violence between 1990 and 2004. He also claimed that women faced an “extremely terrifying and unsafe” environment under the RJD’s rule.
“Today, because of the elections, Tejashwi Yadav seems to be making big promises to the people of Bihar, but where were you when the people of Bihar were being looted? Land, houses, and shops were being illegally occupied,” Mr. Rai asked.
Published – October 05, 2025 04:46 pm IST
