The Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna has published an editorial criticising the way Bihar is being projected as a lawless state after every criminal incident, at a time when its ally BJP has been going hammer and tongs at the Nitish Kumar government over the law and order situation.

Deputy chief minister Tejaswi praised the Saamna for its editorial and dared the BJP to comment against the Sena.

"From day one, I've been saying that the Opposition's allegation of jungle raj for every criminal incident isn't the reality," Tejaswi said on Wednesday. "Similar incidents have taken place in other states but they hardly make headlines. Why is the approach towards Bihar different? Even the BJP's ally has now come out with similar thoughts."

The editorial said the people of Bihar had chosen Nitish and Lalu Prasad and that if people felt the new government has brought jungle raj they would overthrow it. It cited examples of Gujarat, Maharashtra and UP and said incidents that have been taking place in Bihar have happened in other states as well.

"The words in Saamna belong to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, who is a partner of the BJP(-led coalition government) in Maharashtra," Tejaswi said. "Amit Shah or Sushil Kumar Modi must clear their stand or have guts to condemn Shiv Sena's view. I urge the BJP leaders in Bihar not to malign the state's name and allow others to make a mockery of Bihar."

The Sena and Nitish have no love lost for each other. When Sena breakaway party MNS had launched its "anti-north Indian migrants" campaign in Mumbai, the Sena - which has often breathed fire at people from states like Bihar who go to Maharashtra for work - remained a mute spectator. Nitish was critical of both the MNS and the Sena. In Patna, the JDU and the RJD, then political adversaries, burnt effigies of then Sena boss Bal Thackeray and his nephew and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. Nitish had to send envoys to Mumbai when the MNS announced it would oppose his address to Biharis there. Nitish managed to defuse the situation by speaking the first few lines in Marathi.

The BJP leadership has left no stone unturned to attack the state government over the law and order situation. In February an NDA delegation, including the LJP's Chirag Paswan, BJP MLA Ashwini Kumar Choubey and RLSP MP Arun Kumar, met President Pranab Mukherjee demanding President's rule in Bihar.

After a student was murdered in a road rage incident in Gaya and a journalist was murdered in Siwan, the Opposition has sharpened its attack. On Tuesday, another BJP delegation including state president Prem Kumar and senior leader Nand Kishore Yadav visited Raj Bhavan demanding central rule.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad took to Twitter to attack the BJP.

Citing a report published in a Hindi daily that reported the arrest of a BJP MLA's aide in connection with the murder of a television journalist in Chatra, Jharkhand, Lalu tweeted: " Chor Machaye Shor - where are the BJP leaders who were shouting jungle raj and demanding President's rule while participating in news debates."

Reacting to the Saamna editorial, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said: "If RJD leaders like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mohammad Taslimuddin say that the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated under Nitish's regime, we have nothing to add. They are most senior leaders and if they feel in such a manner, what can we say?"