Nitish Kumar loses cool over ‘Lalu zindabad’ slogans at his rally

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, gunning for a fourth term, appeared to have been needled by ‘Lalu Zindabad slogans” at his poll rally on Wednesday. A video from the poll rally showed a visibly irate CM stopping his speech midway to take stock of the slogan shouting people in the crowd.

“Kya bol rahe ho, kya bol rahe ho, kya bol rahe ho (What are you saying, what are you saying, what are you saying),” thundered Nitish Kumar, halting his speech where he was canvassing for Chandrika Rai, a long-time RJD leader and Lalu Yadav aide who switched over to the ruling JD(U) Janata recently.

“Jara hathwa uthao, kahe ko anaap shanaap bol rahe ho (Raise your hand, why are you talking nonsense)”, demanded the CM. At this point, the slogan shouting died down and someone from the crowd now shouted “chara chor hain sab, chara chor (fodder thief), a reference to Lalu Prasad Yadav who has been convicted in four fodder scam cases and is serving jail sentences of different periods. The RJD chief is currently undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

Emboldened, the CM admonished them against causing “halla (chaos)” at the poll rally.

“Yahan pe hall mat karo, vote nahi dena hai toh mat do (Don’t make chaos here. If you don’t want to vote for me, then don’t),” the CM said. He then roped in the crowd asking if the man was right in raising such slogans at the JD(U) rally, the crowd roared back in the CM’s favour.

Nitish Kumar then relayed the sentiment of the crowd to those opposing him and advised them to not do such things as it will only “destroy the votes of the man for whom you are here.”

Still not done, the CM then schooled the opposing crowd for not knowing about Chandrika Rai, the candidate for whom he was canvassing.

Exactly a week to the day of voting, the stakes are clearly high, with parties going all out to woo voters.

Earlier today, RJD leader and Mahagathbandan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav in a snap assessment said “Nitish Kumar ji mentally and physically exhausted”.

On Tuesday too, the two leaders indulged in a war of words with the chief minister attacking Yadav over his alliance’s poll promise of 10 lakh jobs.

“When you make a tall claim, you must also explain the resource mobilisation for meeting the financial burden. Will it be sourced from and serviced by the ill-gotten money which the family has amassed and is currently serving a jail term for the irregularities?” Kumar had said during a poll rally in Gaya.

Lok Janshakti’s Chirag Paswan, whose party has gone solo in the pools, has already made it clear that he will support a BJP-led government in the state and has been taking potshots at Nitish Kumar.

The results of the Bihar elections will be out on November 10.

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