Special revision in Bihar sparks war of words between Nitish, Tejashwi

After intense protests against the special intensive revision (SIR), the Bihar Assembly witnessed heated exchange between the Mahagathbandhan leaders and members of the ruling NDA. While Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav termed SIR “flawed”, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar reminded him of “jungle raj” during the RJD’s tenure.

Tejashwi alleged that the SIR exercise lacked transparency. He said that the Opposition was not against the SIR, but were voicing concerns of the migrant voters, who were scared about being removed from the voter list.

Dressed in a black shirt to mark protest against the revision of electoral rolls, the RJD leader pointed out that the same exercise took one to two years in 2003, which was being done just ahead of the poll this time.

“The revision is taking place now, while so many elections have happened in between. Can we conclude that CM Nitish Kumar, PM Narendra Modi or even us (MLAs) were elected by fake voters?” asked Tejashwi, questioning the timing of the exercise.

He further said that if the poll roll revision had to be carried out, the process could have started after the Lok Sabha poll itself. He claimed that poor people did not possess the 11 documents that were being demanded under the SIR and questioned the Election Commission’s role in proving citizenship.

An agitated Nitish, countered Tejashwi by reminding him of the RJD’s tenure. The JD(U) leader said, “Your father was the chief minister for seven years, then your mother became the CM. You were also a Deputy CM. What was the situation in Bihar then? You (Tejashwi) are a child, you don’t know anything.”

The CM said that under the Lalu-Rabri regime, nobody used to step out of their houses in the evening, not even in Patna.

While the heated exchange marked some business in comparison to Tuesday, the legislative Assembly had to be adjourned again on Wednesday after RJD MLA Bhai Virendra made an objectionable statement.

Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav asked him to apologise and even told the LoP: “I have allowed you to make a statement. I am also letting others on your side to speak, but you must first make Bhai Virendra apologise.” Tejashwi also asked him to apologise, but he didn’t, resulting in the adjournment.