Nitish remarks on Rabri trigger ruckus in Bihar council; Oppn evicted

Trouble began soon after the House assembled around noon, when RJD MLC Abdul Qari Sohaib demanded that Kumar be summoned to the House and made to apologise for remarks made a day ago.

Opposition members in the Bihar legislative council were on Tuesday suspended for the day and evicted by marshals after they created a ruckus, demanding an apology from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allegedly using foul language against their leader Rabri Devi.

Trouble began soon after the House assembled around noon, when Rashtriya Janata Dal MLC Abdul Qari Sohaib demanded that Kumar be summoned to the House and made to apologise for remarks made a day ago.

On Monday, the Opposition had been seeking the chief minister's response to recent incidents of rapes in the state. At one point of time, Kumar and Rabri Devi were seen addressing each other in an animated way amid loud sloganeering, but were not audible as the mics were switched off.

"Rabri Devi is not just the leader of the opposition in this House but also a former chief minister. She was raising the matter of increasing incidents of crimes against women. The words used by Kumar were unbecoming of a chief minister. He should be summoned to the House and made to tender an apology," said the MLC on Tuesday.

Other opposition MLCs also rose and raised slogans against Kumar, prompting members of the ruling side to shout back.

The opposition legislators, thereafter, trooped into the well, and many of them were seen engaged in a heated exchange with MLCs of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

Chairman Awadhesh Naryan Singh remarked, "It seems you people are not in the mood to let the House run today. You'd better leave and stay away for the day."

This evoked angry protests from the opposition legislators, who said they are the aggrieved party, but "we are being accused of wrongdoing while those at fault are being allowed to remain in the House".

As the bedlam continued, Singh called in the marshals, who forced the opposition MLCs, most of them from the RJD, to leave the House.

Talking to reporters outside, RJD MLC and principal national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui alleged: "We were being constantly provoked by those in the treasury benches as they kept making snide remarks. But the Chair singled us out, preferring to ignore their conduct."

The contention was repudiated by Janata Dal-United national general secretary and minister Ashok Choudhary, who said, "The video footage is there for all to see. We were in our seats. It is they who had walked across and came menacingly close to us. Many of them used abusive language against me, which shows their lack of respect for Dalits".

Choudhary said the RJD and their allies were drubbed in the recently held assembly polls. "Their conduct is a manifestation of their character for which they have been punished by the people".

He also claimed that the conduct of Rabri Devi was "highly objectionable" on Monday. She too had trooped into the well and waved fingers at the chief minister.

Dilip Jaiswal, who is also a minister, said, "We have urged the chairman to take appropriate action against the unruly opposition members, especially RJD legislator Sunil Singh, who used foul language for Choudhary who is a Dalit".

Meanwhile, Rabri Devi's son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the RJD's national working president, lambasted Kumar while interacting with journalists at the airport.

Returning after a short trip to Delhi, Yadav, a former deputy CM, said the conduct of his ex-boss showed "Nitish Kumar is not in a sound state of mind and is unfit to rule the state".

"Every other day Nitish Kumar remains in the news for behaving in a manner that is not expected from a sane person," alleged Yadav, who is now the leader of the opposition in the assembly.