Those who engage in rioting in Bihar will be hung upside down and taught a lesson if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.

He made the statement while addressing a rally in Bihar’s Nawada district.

In the past three days, several clashes between Hindus and Muslims have been reported from Biharsharif and Sasaram – the district headquarters of Nalanda and Rohtas.

One person died in the violence in Biharsharif, while several persons were injured. The clashes began during Ram Navami processions on March 30.

Shah on Sunday said that the entire state is concerned about the violence. “I urge you to give us a complete majority – 40 out of 40 seats – in the 2024 [Lok Sabha] elections, and to elect a BJP government [in the state] in 2025,” he said. “The BJP will hang these rioters upside down and set them straight.”

The home minister claimed that the BJP does not engage in appeasement or vote bank politics.

Shah questioned why the Janata Dal (United)‘s National President Lalan Singh was offended when he called up Governor Rajendra Arlekar to assess the situation in the state. “I am the country’s home minister, and I am concerned because you cannot control the state’s law and order,” he said.

Shah added: “How can the state government ensure peace when Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party [the Rashtriya Janata Dal] – which had given rise to jungle raj in Bihar – is a part of it?”

BJP’s doors are closed for JD(U) forever: Shah

Shah claimed during the rally that legislators from Bihar’s ruling alliance are facing the anger of the electorate. The ruling alliance consists of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“Half of their MPs are knocking on the doors of the BJP,” the home minister claimed. “But I want to make one thing clear, in case anyone has doubts on whether the BJP will take the JD(U) back into the NDA [National Democratic Alliance]. I want to tell the citizens of Bihar as well as Lalan babu – for you, the BJP’s doors have been closed forever.”

Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) had allied with the BJP on two occasions, only to break ties later. The chief minister first broke the alliance with the BJP in 2013 after it named Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The JD(U) chief then formed a mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, with the RJD and the Congress. However, he left the alliance and rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 2017 citing corruption charges against the RJD.

In August, Kumar again left the BJP and returned to the grand alliance, following which he took oath as the chief minister for the eighth time.

The chief minister also said on January 30 that he would rather die than ally with the BJP. He said his decision to join hands with the saffron party in 2017 in the wake of corruption allegations against Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and its founder Lalu Prasad Yadav was a mistake.