Bihar’s Araria district will soon become a “terror hub”, Union minister Giriraj Singh said on Thursday, a day after the Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate won the Lok Sabha bye-election in the constituency.

“The RJD has started a new political culture for its political ambitions,” Singh told PTI. “They have spawned an extremist ideology which is a danger not only to Bihar but also to the country in the coming days. It will become a hub of terrorism.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Sarfaraz Alam defeated his nearest rival, Pradip Kumar Singh of the BJP, the bye-election by nearly 62,000 votes.

Responding to Singh’s statement, former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi urged the central government to ensure that such statements are not made. He said people of the Scheduled Castes, and not just Muslims, also lived in Araria. “So how can it be a hub of the Islamic State group,” he said.

Another former chief minister, Rabri Devi, said, “all the terrorists of the country are sitting in the BJP’s office”.

Days before the bye-election on Sunday, Nityanand Rai, the Bihar president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had made a similar comment about the RJD. He said if Alam won the polls in Araria, it would “become a hub of the Islamic State”. He had added that if the BJP candidate won, the constituency would see more patriotism. Rai was booked for violating the model code of conduct.