Patna: Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Friday wrote an open letter to Nitish Kumar, accusing the chief minister of ignoring the Muzaffarpur case in which at least 34 minor girls were raped at a state government-funded shelter home.

He accused the chief minister of "criminal silence on one of the world's most horrifying institutional mass rape cases".

The chief minister on Friday admitted that the state had been shamed by the incident, but Tejashwi alleged in the letter that Nitish did not utter a word on the case for so long because minors were not his vote bank.

"It pains me immensely when I think about the Muzaffarpur mass rape incident. The little girls, who should be playing with toys, became toys for others. These girls were neglected by Nitish's government because they are not anyone's vote bank. The orphaned girls were tortured, assaulted, raped and beaten up regularly but the government was fast asleep," Tejashwi wrote in the one-page letter in Hindi.

"I am not saying that the Balika Grih was owned by Brajesh Thakur. I am saying that the Balika Grih was owned by the government and that government is run by chief minister Nitish Kumar. The police have completely closed their eyes. The incident has shocked the entire nation and there are demands that the accused should be hanged to death to teach them lesson otherwise the girls would be afraid of taking birth in Bihar," Tejashwi said.

At the end of the letter, Tejashwi said that Nitish is not able to run the state properly and he should resign if there is any morality left in him.

Tejashwi's letter came a day before he is to sit on dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in protest against the state government's handling of the Muzaffarpur case. Several Opposition leaders are expected to take part in the RJD protest.

Tejashwi said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Trinamul Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will join the protest along with leaders from Left parties.

Tejashwi has been posting on Twitter, describing shelter home horror. One message read: "If shelters don't shelter-who will, Nitish Kumar please hear their cries, rape is scar for life, rage against rape-let us shine a light on the epidemic that is corroding our nation pride-join us a Jantar Mantar New Delhi on August 4 at 5:30 pm."