"You Were A Child...": Nitish Kumar vs Tejashwi Yadav In Bihar Assembly

A debate in Bihar Assembly witnessed dramatic scenes today, as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar interrupted Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and questioned what the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- the main opposition and his former ally -- had done for the state.

The subject of the debate was the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in the poll-bound state, but the Chief Minister did not specifically address this issue.

Mr Yadav was speaking about the challenges posed by the voter list revision months ahead of the election, when Mr Kumar stood up and targeted his former ally.

"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. We (JDU and BJP) have been together from the beginning, and we will stay that way," Mr Kumar said.

The Chief Minister said the Centre is supporting the state government for Bihar's development. "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 leave home in Patna after dark?"

Speaking about the voter list revision, Mr Yadav said the Constitution grants everyone the right to vote. "We are not opposing SIR, but the process is not transparent. The Election Commission says they received complaints that people from outside have come as voters here. This drive was carried out in 2003, and it took a year to complete it then. 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 said, questioning why the voter revision drive was not started right after the Lok Sabha election last year.

The Special Intensive Revision of voter lists in Bihar has sparked a major row both in Bihar and at the central level. Opposition leaders are protesting in Parliament against the drive, alleging that the Election Commission is trying to verify voters' citizenship on the pretext of revising voter rolls and warning that a large section of people may lose voting rights due to this drive.

More than 52 lakh voters were not found at their registered addresses during the ongoing exercise, the Election Commission has said. This is 6.62 per cent of the state's registered voters. Many of them have died, shifted permanently, have enrolled as voters at multiple locations, or are untraceable.