Amid loud protests from the opposition over a range of issues, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his temper in the Assembly on Wednesday, directing his ire at RJD MLA Rekha Paswan. “You are a woman, don’t you know anything… Sit down and listen,” Kumar snapped.
This remark triggered a strong response from senior RJD leader and Kumar’s former deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, who called him a “habitual offender”.
During the Assembly session, Kumar faced fierce criticism from opposition MLAs, particularly from the RJD and the Congress, his former allies until earlier this year. Chanting slogans like ‘Nitish Kumar Hai Hai’ (Down with Nitish Kumar), the opposition lambasted his government for its “failures” on reservation and special status for Bihar.
Last month, the Patna High Court struck down the Bihar government’s move to increase the reservation cap in government jobs and educational institutions to 65%. This week, the Union government said “no case was made out” to grant special status to Bihar. When Nitish Kumar’s JDU secured 12 Lok Sabha seats and helped the BJP regain power despite falling short of a majority, it was anticipated that the chief minister’s request for special status for Bihar would be approved.
Kumar stated in the Assembly that his government would challenge the Patna High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court, but this did little to pacify the opposition. As protests continued during his speech, Kumar lashed out, “Arre mahila ho, kuch jaanti nahin ho? Arre bol rahi hai, kahan se aate? Yeh logo ne kabhi mahila ko aage badhaya tha? Bol rahi ho? Faltu. Isliye ham keh rahe hai, chup chaap suno. Arre kya hua? Sunoge nahin? Hum to sunayenge. Agar aap nahin suniyega, to aap logo ki galti hai.”
Tejashwi Yadav posted in Hindi on X, “‘You are a woman, do you know anything?’ Making cheap, unwanted, uncivilised, rude and low-level comments against women has become a habit of Honourable Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. This is a very serious and worrying issue for the state.”
“A few days ago, the chief minister had made a lewd comment on the beauty of a BJP woman MLA from the tribal class. Today, he made a comment on two-time Scheduled Caste woman MLA Rekha Paswan. Honourable Shri Nitish ji has become the greatest knower, meditator, interpreter and creator of the universe. Apart from him, no one knows anything,” the RJD leader added.
This isn’t the first time Nitish Kumar has sparked controversy with his remarks in the Bihar Assembly. In November last year, he sparked a row with the way he described how educating women would help them avoid pregnancies. This comment caused an uproar among BJP leaders, who were in the opposition at the time. Following the backlash, Kumar apologised and retracted his statement.
