Patna, Aug. 6: The NDA today staged a demonstration outside its state headquarters in Patna over atrocities on Dalits in Bihar.

The NDA leaders raised the issue of the lathicharge on Dalit students demanding post-matriculation scholarship to continue pursuing higher studies.

On Wednesday, the Dalit students had hit the road protesting against the state government over cut in their annual scholarship amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15,000.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said: "The Nitish Kumar government has showed its real face and his so-called claim of being sympathiser of Dalits was totally wrong. Every year, the government is cutting the scholarship amount. Earlier it was Rs 2 lakh, then it came down to Rs 1 lakh and now, it has become Rs 15,000."

The matter was raised during the monsoon session in both Houses, demanding judicial inquiry into the incident. The matter has taken a serious political colour as the NDA top brass, including Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Sushil Kumar Modi, had visited the hospital and the hostel to meet the injured students. Even students' organisations, both right-wing and Left-wing, had taken out a march to condemn the police lathicharge on Dalit students.

On the other hand, Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik national convener and Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav Raj Bhavan marched protesting against new liquor bill and the police lathicharge on Dalit students.

Pappu demanded the governor's intervention in the matter as well as the setting up of a CBI inquiry into the toppers scam while demanding increasing the scholarship of Dalit students.

LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan told supporters at the BJP office: "I have personally raised this issue in Parliament. The way the government allowed the police to beat up Dalit students is a matter of shame."

Nand Kishore Yadav, along with BJP state unit president Mangal Pandey, attacked the government approach towards Dalit students. Nand Kishore said the Bihar government was just showing off empowering Dalits in Bihar. From RLSP, Harlakhi MLA assembly Sudhanshu Shekhar was present at the dharna.

Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAMS) state unit president Brishen Patel said: "The Dalits who made Lalu and Nitish to form the government in the state are being now beaten up by police. Atrocities on Dalits in Bihar prove that Lalu and Nitish have no sympathy towards the downtrodden. They just use Dalits as votebank to achieve their political goal."

HAMS national spokesperson Danish Rizwan said: "Nitish has crores of rupees to spend on construction of Bihar museum but no money for scholarship of Dalit students."

Sushil Modi said: "The provision reminds us the law of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Taliban, where people are beheaded and hands chopped off for the crime."