Patna, Aug. 7: The Bhagalpur communal riot today resurfaced in the political scenario as the state government tabled the report of the judicial inquiry commission headed by retired high court judge Justice N.N. Singh on the final day of the monsoon session of the Assembly.

This is the second judicial commission to submit a report on one of the worst communal violence of India in which over 1,000 people were killed. The first one gave its report in 1995 when Lalu Prasad's RJD was in power. It had aimed its criticism at the then Congress government in Bihar.

The second judicial inquiry commission was established by Nitish Kumar in 2006. He was a strong ally of the BJP then. But its report was tabled at a time when political equations had changed and Nitish's JDU, Lalu's RJD and the Congress have joined hands to take on the BJP.

Little wonder then, the alliance remained silent on the commission's report and the BJP latched on it. Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said chief minister Nitish had exposed the stand of both Lalu and Sonia on secularism through the Justice N.N. Singh Inquiry Commission report on the riots.

Modi said: "The report has clearly indicated the failure of the government machinery (then Congress government) to control the riots and Lalu Prasad's (RJD government) reluctance to initiate proper investigation and action against those involved."

He also said: "The prime accused of the case - Kameshwar Yadav - has links with the RJD. Despite being an accused in five cases, he was acquitted because of the RJD chief's patronage."

The commission in its report questioned the role of several IAS and IPS officers. It came to the conclusion that then Bhagalpur district magistrate (DM) and superintendent of police were too inexperienced to handle the communal situation. Stone pelting on a religious procession had triggered the Bhagalpur riot. The commission hauled up the then Congress regime for not taking adequate measures despite being aware of the seriousness of the situation.

The riots changed the political dynamics of the state with minorities suddenly moving towards Lalu Prasad. In 2006, Nitish had set up the second commission allegedly to highlight Lalu's "haft-hearted" attempt to book the culprits. "But 26 years down the line, the issue is unlikely to have any electoral impact except triggering charges and counter-charges," said a senior BJP leader.