New Delhi: A top state politician from India's ruling party was gunned down Friday as he returned home from a wedding, police said.
Vishveshwar Ojha, a vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the eastern state of Bihar, was sprayed with bullets on his way back from the ceremony in Bhojpur district.
"He had gone to attend a wedding and he was shot at by unidentified gunmen as he was returning," police superintendent Naveen Chandra Jha told AFP.
The 45-year-old, who had 10 charges of attempt to murder against him, was likely attacked due to a feud with his political rivals, according to local media reports.
Ojha failed to win a seat in recent state elections in Bihar which is run by a broad-brush alliance.
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP rules at national level, the right-wing Hindu nationalist party was badly beaten in Bihar which is India's third most populous state and has a reputation for lawlessness.
Last month, a jeweller was shot dead in the capital city Patna after reportedly refusing to pay extortion money to a local criminal.
AFP
