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Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav lock horns in Bihar Assembly over SIR
Tejashwi Yadav termed SIR as flawed and alleged that it was being done in a non transparent manner, prompting Nitish Kumar to remind him about the ‘jungle raj’ during RJD’s rule
PATNA: The Bihar assembly on Wednesday witnessed confrontation between the opposition Grand Alliance and ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav termed SIR as “flawed” and alleged that it was being done in a “non transparent” manner, prompting chief minister Nitish Kumar to remind him about the “jungle raj” during the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s rule.
On Yadav asking whether chief minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were wrongly elected, Kumar intervened asking Yadav to refrain from making unwarranted statements.
“You should remember what all happened during his parents’ rule in Bihar (referring to Lalu-Rabri rule of RJD from 1990 to 2005). You were a child. You do not know how people used to never venture out after sunset in Patna during the rule of your parents. We have worked for all sections and ushered development in the state,” he said, asking Yadav not to create a fuss about SIR.
The chief minister said though he had spent a lot of time with the NDA, he was with the RJD for some time. “When I noticed things were not going on properly, I switched back to the NDA,” Kumar said.
Yadav questioned the timing of SIR saying the 2003 exercise had taken over a year and the present one was happening just months before the elections. “SIR is not being done in a transparent way and the poor are facing immense difficulty in procuring documents,” Yadav said. He also pointed out that migrant workers living outside the state were being left out.
The opposition leader criticised the requirement of 11 documents for voter registration claiming that the voter list of Lok Sabha elections should have been revised. He said people have got just 25 days to get these documents, which is challenging for economically disadvantaged citizens, underscoring the issues they encounter.
However, the legislative assembly was adjourned after RJD MLA Bhai Virendra made an objectionable statement. Though speaker Nand Kishore Yadav first asked him to apologise and then Tejaswhi to ask him to apologise, he didn’t, resulting in pandemonium.
After 2 pm when the work resumed in the assembly, the House passed six bills amid pandemonium, including one providing social security for Gig workers.
