PATNA: Leader of opposition in Bihar legislative council and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi on Wednesday accused chief minister Nitish Kumar of consuming intoxicants and disrespecting women under its influence in the legislative assembly.
RJD members staged a walk out of the legislative council and later shouted slogans against the chief minister for disrespecting women.
Demanding resignation from Nitish for disrespecting women, Rabri said, "Nitish Kumar comes to the assembly after consuming 'bhaang'. He disrespects women, including me. He should see the kind of work we have done when we were in power. What the people around him say, he speaks the same. Some of his party (JD(U) leaders and those from BJP ask him to do so."
"He has been doing the same act for the last several years. His condition is not stable. He should resign. He is not in a condition to run the government," alleged RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
RJD MLC Sunil Kumar Singh, whose membership was reinstated recently after the intervention of the Supreme Court, said that continuous disrespect of women would not be tolerated. There have been instances when Nitish insulted former chief minister Rabri Devi by making unsavoury remarks against her.
"People are watching everything. They will respond to him in the upcoming assembly election," he told the media outside the assembly premises.
The spat between the chief minister and Rabri Devi started again on Wednesday when a woman CPI-ML (Liberation) MLC Shashi Yadav said in the legislative council that she was not satisfied with the reply of the government on the question she had submitted earlier.
Nitish Kumar, who is also a member of Upper House, could not behold and intervened saying, "The government is doing so much. The earlier government did nothing."
Upon this, Kumar's predecessor Rabri Devi lost her cool and retorted by saying "You people say the previous government has done nothing. Please summon the records (of works) done before you took over. Only then you will understand it better."
Nitish, who lost his cool like last week, sprang to his feet and vehementally began to reiterate his point.
Rabri Devi reacted to his comments and said, "You mean to say that women didn't wear clothes before 2005 when you became the chief minister of the state."
Nitish replied in the same vein, "Never before have women got so much respect as they are getting now. What did they do? Your husband made you the chief minister when he landed in trouble."
Notably, Rabri Devi first became the chief minister in 1997 when her husband Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, had to resign, following a CBI charge-sheet in the fodder scam.
The heated argument between Nitish and Rabri Devi forced the chairman of the council Awadhesh Narain Singh to intervene. He rose from his seat and appealed to the Opposition members to let the House run properly.
However, the Opposition led by Rabri Devi staged a walk out even as Nitish continued to attack the RJD for adopting a soft stance during Hindu-Muslim conflict in the state.
"They did it for their own benefit. You allowed the perpetrators of Hindu-Muslim riots to go scot free because of caste affinity," Nitish said, while regretting having tie-up twice. "I am back with my old partner (BJP). Now we will remain together and continue with our good work," he asserted.
Later, talking to media persons, leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said, "It's a matter of worry for the 14 crore people of Bihar. Their fate is in the hands of a chief minister who is not (mentally) stable. I pray for Nitish Kumar's early recovery."
Speaking to reporters outside the House, "He speaks as if he himself was born in 2005, just like his ally Prime Minister Narendra Modi pretends as if he came into this world in 2014. The two leaders should tell us what is meant by women did not wear clothes in the past?" asked the ex-CM, visibly enraged.
She added, "The CM is sitting on the lap of the BJP which has its moles acting as his confidants. We have staged a walkout and we will boycott the House till Nitish Kumar does not give up insulting women."
Shortly afterwards, she was joined by Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, who came to express solidarity with his mother and others who were feeling wronged.
A former deputy CM himself, Yadav claimed he felt "pity" for his ex-boss, who was "clearly not normal" in terms of his behaviour in public.
"Nitish ji gesticulates at the 'bindi' my mother wears on her forehead. I have seen him gesticulating in a similar fashion at his own female ministers and legislators. He loses control in the presence of women. He should resign and, maybe, set up an ashram and spend his time giving discourses," Yadav said.
The young leader also recounted incidents of Kumar "falling at the feet" of leaders like the PM and local BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and "making ministers in his cabinet literally bump their heads together".
Yadav also claimed the JD(U) supremo could not hold a candle to Lalu Prasad who was "elected to Parliament in 1977 when Nitish ji, despite the wave in favour of Janata Party, lost his assembly election".
"Nitish ji has no courage. He cannot speak against BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur Bachaul who is asking Muslims to stay indoors on Holi. He switches alliances often but he does so not by sacking those from the party he severes ties with, but by resigning himself and then begging for support," Yadav alleged.
(With inputs from PTI)
