Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar triggered a political storm on Monday after a video surfaced showing him pulling down the hijab of a woman doctor during a government function in Patna, drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition and reviving questions about his conduct in public.
The incident occurred at an official event where Kumar, who recently took oath as chief minister for the 10th time, was distributing appointment certificates to AYUSH doctors. In the widely circulated video, the 74-year-old JD(U) leader is seen handing over a certificate to a woman doctor and gesturing at her to remove her hijab. Before she could respond, Kumar reached out and pulled it down, exposing her mouth and chin. Some people present at the venue were seen laughing, while Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary appeared to intervene and stop him.
TNIE could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The footage prompted strong reactions from Opposition parties, with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) condemning the chief minister’s action as inappropriate and disrespectful.
Calling the act “vile” and “shameless”, the Congress demanded Kumar’s resignation. “A female doctor had come to collect her appointment letter, and Nitish Kumar pulled off her hijab. A man occupying the highest position in Bihar is openly indulging in such a vile act. How safe will women in the state be?” the party said in a post on X, adding that his behaviour was “unforgivable”.
The RJD went a step further, questioning Kumar’s mental health. “What has happened to Nitish ji? His mental state has now reached a completely pitiable condition,” the party said in a Hindi post on X.
RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said the incident reflected the attitude of the JD(U)-BJP alliance towards women and minorities. “By removing the hijab from the face of a Muslim woman who observes purdah, he has made it clear what kind of politics the JDU and BJP are engaging in in the name of women’s empowerment,” Ahmad said. He added that forcibly removing a woman’s veil amounted to violating her cultural and religious rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The controversy has also brought back memories of earlier incidents involving Kumar that had sparked debate over his public behaviour. Weeks before the Bihar Assembly elections in November, which the JD(U)-BJP alliance swept with over 200 seats in the 243-member House, Kumar had come under fire after a video showed him insisting on garlanding a woman candidate at a public meeting.
In that video, shot during a poll rally in Muzaffarpur’s Minapur constituency, Kumar was seen attempting to garland Rama Nishad, the BJP candidate from Aurai. In local Hindu tradition, a woman is generally not garlanded by anyone other than her husband. Nishad appeared visibly uncomfortable, while JD(U) working president and Kumar’s close aide Sanjay Kumar Jha tried to stop him by grabbing his hand. Kumar briefly relented but then suddenly garlanded the woman, later remarking into the microphone, “Ee gajab aadmi hai bhai (What a strange man),” apparently referring to Jha.
Citing such incidents, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor and several other leaders had, in the run-up to the elections, raised concerns about Kumar’s mental fitness to govern. Those remarks had triggered sharp political debate at the time.