Patna: After a row over his alleged comments against women legislators, including Rabri Devi, in the Assembly, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been accused of showing disrespect to the national anthem during a sports meet at the state capital on Thursday.
In a purported video of the event, Kumar first seems confused and then fidgets and starts laughing and talking with his principal secretary Deepak Kumar. The retired IAS officer then seems to caution the CM, who then folds his hands in a ‘namaskar’ towards somebody in the audience.
While Kumar’s behaviour hasn’t gone down well with netizens, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav latched on to the opportunity to claim once again that Kumar has lost his mental balance.
“You have been insulting the youth, women and elderly on a regular basis. Now, please do not disrespect the national anthem. In the past, you even clapped during an event to observe the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” Yadav stated on ‘X’.
In a postscript to his message, the RJD leader write: “Please do not forget that you are the chief minister of a large and important state like Bihar. You are not mentally or physically stable for a moment. Your continuing to hold the post as CM in this condition is a matter of concern for the state. Please stop insulting Bihar by such actions.”
Social media users have spoken out against Kumar. “A retirement age should be fixed for politicians,” one of them stated.
Another one posted: “The BJP calls itself a nationalist party. After this incident, it should either stop supporting Nitish Kumar or ask him to step down.”
Someone else has remarked: “A person who cannot show respect to the national anthem, can do not good to society or the state.”
