Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday appeared to lose his cool in the Bihar assembly, following a stinging personal attack on him by the leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav.
Reeling off charges, Tejashwi Yadav referred to the 1991 murder case – in which the CM has been given a clean chit – controversy over a book in the name of CM, the Srijan scam, among others.
There was palpable unease in the treasury benches. The 31-year-old leader, whose party emerged the single largest party in the just concluded elections, also referred to Nitish Kumar’s ‘8-9 children’ jibe during campaigning.
Nitish Kumar seemed very displeased as soon as Tejashwi Yadav once again got up for rebuttal after parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary gave pointed clarification on the charges and urged the Chair to restrain members from making unsubstantiated charges.
“I urge the chair to remove objectionable and unsubstantiated remarks from the proceedings, as despite clear court orders, baseless allegations are being made against the leader of the House ,” said Choudhary.
However, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha said that he would get the matter examined and then take action. At this point, Tejashwi again reiterated his allegations.
CM Kumar, angry with consistent assault on his image, got up to defend himself.
“He is making absurd allegations. He is lying. I kept mum for far too long, as he happens to be the son of a brother-like friend. I did not speak, hoping he will mend his ways,” Kumar said as leaders of the treasury and opposition benched trooped into the well and nearly came to blows before the marshals intervened.
“He should know that I was the one who made his father the Legislature party leader. Even he became the deputy CM due to me, and he has the cheek to speak like this. I had asked him to explain corruption charges against him, but he did not. Everyone knows the court orders in my case and he is still repeating lies. I tolerated everything, but now it is too much,” the CM said.
As the pandemonium continued, the marshals stepped in. The Speaker adjourned the House for half an hour. It is the last day of the five-day session.
Right from the start of the session, the opposition has been on the offensive and it had also forced election for the Speaker’s post, which also witnessed adjournments and furore.
