In a session of the Bihar Assembly, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reportedly lashed out at Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition, during a heated debate in the state Assembly on Tuesday, defending his party’s decision to sever ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The exchange, captured on video and widely circulated on social media, reflected the growing strain between the Janata Dal (United) and the RJD.
“When you were young, your father was chief minister for seven years, and your mother was chief minister for seven years. What was the situation then? I went with you for some time, but you were not doing the right thing, so I left you,” Kumar said in the Assembly. We (JD(U) and BJP) have been together from the beginning, and we will stay that way.”
Responding to Yadav’s criticism of his shifting alliances, Kumar asked, “What have you done for women? What have you done for Muslims? We have worked for all sections. Do you even know? You were a child. Did anyone dare leave home in Patna after dark?”
Yadav, who served as Deputy Chief Minister during the previous JD(U)-RJD alliance, had accused Kumar of betraying the people's mandate by frequently switching coalitions. He questioned Kumar’s political consistency and claimed that the electorate had voted for a secular alliance, not for repeated partnerships with the BJP.
In his defence, Kumar reportedly stated that his return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was due to the RJD’s conduct during their coalition tenure.
The JD(U) chief also allegedly rebuked Yadav for failing to understand statecraft, implying that his political inexperience was a factor in the alliance breakdown. “You didn’t see what was happening.” he was quoted as saying by TOI.
The session grew as RJD legislators objected to Kumar's tone and remarks, while JD(U) members backed the Chief Minister’s statement, praising him for setting the record straight. Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary intervened briefly but allowed the heated exchange to continue, as reported by Times of India.
The exchange occurred during opposition protests over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar. Opposition legislators accused the Commission of using the exercise as a cover to disenfranchise voters ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
Tejashwi Yadav questioned why the voter roll revision drive began only after the JD(U) rejoined the NDA and challenged the legitimacy of past elections. “Between 2003 and 2025, many elections have been held. Should we then say Nitish Kumar is a fake Chief Minister? All of us who were elected came here with the support of fake voters?” he asked, as reported by the Times of India.
According to the Election Commission, more than 52 lakh voters, amounting to 6.62% of Bihar’s registered electorate, were not found at their registered addresses during the ongoing verification. The Commission stated that these voters had either passed away, relocated, enrolled in multiple locations, or were otherwise untraceable.
The allegations have added fuel to the political fire in poll-bound Bihar. The opposition contends that the timing and method of the voter roll revisions suggest an effort to suppress votes from marginalised communities. The EC, however, maintains that the revision is part of a routine process to clean up electoral rolls.
The political temperature is expected to rise further as the Monsoon session continues and both parties ramp up campaigns ahead of state elections.
This confrontation follows months of political turbulence in Bihar, with JD(U)’s switch back to the NDA in early 2025 having already drawn criticism for what opposition parties call "ideological opportunism."
The incident is being viewed as a preview of the high-stakes political contest set to unfold ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.
