NDA leaders, facing flak over Dalit atrocities in Gujarat, on Sunday attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad for keeping mum on the Muzaffarpur incident in which two Dalit youths were thrashed and urinated upon by some people for allegedly stealing a motorcycle.

Raising the pitch over the Muzaffarpur incident, Union minister for food and public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said: "The Gujarat incident is sad and it should be condemned strongly. However, at the same time, the Muzaffarpur incident is even bigger. RJD chief Lalu and chief minister Nitish Kumar have all the time for condemning the Gujarat incident but these two leaders have no time to condemn the Muzaffarpur incident."

Highlighting some of the recent incidents in which Dalits were beaten up or subjected to other kind of atrocities, the LJP chief said: "Over the past week, atrocities against Dalits have gone up with incidents at Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Hajipur and more recently, in Muzaffarpur."

The LJP leader also attacked Lalu for the series of massacres, including Laxmanpur-Bathe, Bathani Tola and Mianpur, where a large number of Dalits were killed with the majority belonging to Dalit communities. "These incidents of caste violence took place when Lalu was in power," he said.

Attacking chief minister Nitish Kumar for his "fake" love for Dalits, the Union minister said: "While the massacres took place during the Lalu regime, the majority of accused in the incidents were acquitted by district courts during the Nitish Kumar regime, which is equally shocking. The duo are trying to reap political dividends by shedding crocodile tears over Dalit atrocities in Gujarat. They should tell people why the state government has failed to bring perpetrators of the several massacres of Dalits to justice."

The LJP leader also attacked the Nitish Kumar government for harassing people involved in the toddy trade on the pretext of prohibition.

Echoing the views of Paswan, Union minister for state Giriraj Singh, in an open letter, attacked the RJD regime (1990-2005), claiming it witnessed innumerable incidents of caste-related violence.

Giriraj said Lalu has used Dalits, backward classes and the poor only as his vote bank.

He added that the uncountable Dalit atrocities were witnessed during his 15 years of rule, which was not a hidden fact from anyone in the country.