You will not win even a single seat next time: Nitish to RJD-led Opposition MLAs

Nitish Kumar on Wednesday told legislators from the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Opposition alliance, who were shouting slogans against him in the State Assembly

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday told legislators from the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Opposition alliance, who were shouting slogans against him in the State Assembly, that they would not win even a single seat in the next Assembly election. He also rejected the Opposition’s demand for the removal of a senior government official, curtly telling them that he was the most “honest officer”.

“You [Opposition members] keep shouting ‘murdabad’ against me. I’ll say ‘zindabad’ to you, but remember you will not win even a single seat in the next Assembly election and none of you will be seen here. You may then be making noise in your constituencies,” a visibly irritated CM told Opposition members as they shouted slogans such as “Mukhyamantri murdabad (Down with the Chief Minister) and trooped into the well of the House. Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav kept requesting the angry Opposition legislators to take their seats, but they continued raising slogans against the government and the CM.

Later, Opposition members, upset by the use of “unacceptable” language against them by a ruling BJP legislator on February 20, walked out of the House.

Mr. Kumar, who walked out of the mahagathbandhan alliance with the RJD last month and switched loyalties to the BJP-led NDA, accused his erstwhile allies of corrupt behaviour while in power. “Our [mahagathbandhan] government has done so much, but you [RJD-led Opposition] people indulged in wrongdoings whenever you shared power. Now, I’m setting everything right,” he said. The current NDA government, headed by Mr. Kumar, has sought a “review” of work done by departments headed by RJD Ministers in the previous government, which was also headed by Mr. Kumar.

RJD leader and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav dismissed reports of a review into departments he had headed in the previous regime. “Why should I be scared? If anything wrong has been done, Mr. Kumar, as Chief Minister of the State, then and now, would have spotted it right away. But all he would get in reviews are works done for the growth and development of the people and the State,” Mr. Yadav told media persons on February 20 as he set off on his 10-day Jan Viswah Yatra across the State.

Mr. Kumar also took exception of the demand of Opposition legislators for the removal of Additional Chief Secretary rank officer K.K. Pathak, who heads the State’s education department. The CM had announced in the House on Tuesday that the timings of government schools in the State would be changed to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from the current 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. “But you cannot demand removal of the officer. You do not have the right to do so. You want to remove the most honest officer,” Mr. Kumar told the Opposition MLAs.