Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday (Oct 21, 2025) courted controversy when he reprimanded his party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha, even as he launched his election campaign from Muzaffarpur district, addressing rallies in Minapur and Kanti assembly seats.
The incident started when the Bihar Chief Minister garlanded Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ram Nishad. As he tried to put the garland around her neck while she stood in front of him with clasped hands, Mr. Jha, who was standing behind Ms. Nishad, suddenly stopped Mr. Kumar by grabbing his hand and motioning him to hand over the garland to him. Mr. Kumar then withdrew his hand and put a garland around her neck, followed by loud cheers from the crowd.
Mr. Kumar then returned to the stage and pointed at Mr. Jha and said, “Ee gajab aadmi hai bhai, haath kui padke? (What a fool he is, brother, why did you hold his hand?)”
Mr. Jha is the working president of the Janata Dal (United). BJP State President Dilip Jaiswal was also present on the stage.
Garland dispute
Before every election, Mr. Kumar observes the tradition of garlanding the candidates when he goes to seek votes on their behalf, calling it the Vijay Mala, or victory garland. But it is unusual for male politicians to garland women in Bihar, and Mr Kumar has come under some fire in the past year for alleged inappropriate behaviour, particularly towards women.
The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) used the incident to ridicule the chief minister. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav posted a video on his X handle echoing Mr Kumar’s own remark against him: “Ee gajab aadmi hai bhai.” Mr. Yadav also questioned the chief minister’s health and asked why he was reading a written speech instead of making an extempore speech.
The official handle of RJD also posted the video on X. “People from his own party fear Nitish Kumar the most. Who knows when he might do something unpredictable! He is holding his hand, anyone can shout at him and try to stop him. Is Nitish Kumar able to continue as Chief Minister in this situation? You are wise, you think!” said the opposition party.
He challenges the politics of the RJD dynasty
Earlier, Mr Kumar started his election campaign in support of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates in three seats in Muzaffarpur district: Ajay Kushwaha of JD(U) in Minapur, Ms Nishad in Muzaffarpur and Ajit Kumar of JD(U) in Kanti.
Criticizing the previous RJD-led regime in the state, the chief minister alleged that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his government did nothing for the development of Bihar. He also criticized Mr. Yadav for practicing dynasty politics, noting that when he went to jail in the fodder scam case, he made his wife Rabri Devi the chief minister and now promotes his sons and daughter in politics.
“Have you ever heard me talk about family? I never do, I work for people,” Mr Kumar said.
Enumerating the achievements of 20 years in power, Mr. Kumar said all sectors have reaped the benefits of the government’s programmes, with a special focus on women empowerment.
VIP candidate rejected
Meanwhile, INDIA’s opposition bloc faced a major setback in the Sugauli Assembly constituency on Tuesday when the Election Commission rejected the nomination of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate Shashi Bhushan Singh during the scrutiny process.
Mr. Singh is a sitting MLA and was elected on an RJD ticket in 2020 but this time he was nominated as a VIP candidate. As VIP is not a registered regional party, Mr. Singh had to submit his nomination with 10 petitioners; however, he followed RJD norms and included only one. The Electoral Commission found his nomination papers insufficient and rejected his candidacy.
Mr. Singh was one of the seven candidates whose nomination was rejected by the Commission. The others were the candidates of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Apni Janta Dal (AJD), Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) led by Tej Pratap Yadav and three independent candidates.
The main contest in Sugauli is now between Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Rajesh Kumar alias Bablu Gupta and Ajay Kumar Jha of Jan Suraaj Party (JSP). Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Zulfiquar Aftab is also in the fray.
Last week, LJP (RV) candidate Seema Singh’s nomination was canceled from the Marhaura Assembly seat, while JSP’s Drig Narayan Prasad was rejected in Valmikinagar as his documents were incomplete.
Published – 21 Oct 2025 22:22 IST
