Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Ghat in Patna on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sparked a row on Thursday (January 30, 2025) when he started clapping after paying floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 77th death anniversary which is also observed as Martyrs’ Day. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
In the video, Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker, Nand Kishore Yadav, who was standing beside him was seen signalling to Mr. Kumar to stop clapping. Mr. Kumar along with several other Ministers, including Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha and Ashok Choudhary, to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Gandhi Ghat here.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar paying the floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) slammed Mr. Kumar over the incident calling it an insult to the Father of the nation. Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, also posted the message along with clapping video on his social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
“Bihar Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar, a Godse worshipper, claps and celebrates the murder of Father of the Nation Gandhi ji. Nitish Kumar is a worshipper of Godse and the Sangh from his heart heart and soul. Doesn’t this incident show that his mental state is not fit to run the State? He had also thrown down his bow and arrow during the Ravana Vadh programme organised on the occasion of Dussehra. Later some people said that his mental state was such that he felt that someone had given him a snake instead of an arrow and bow, so he threw it suddenly,” Mr. Yadav said in the post.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar standing along with Bihar Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Thursday at Gandhi Ghat in Patna.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Previous issues
This is not the first time, Mr. Kumar has sparked controversy. Recently, Mr. Kumar had courted controversy with his remark that “girls did not wear clothes in the past”. He made the remark on January 18 while interacting with a group of Jeevika Didis during his ongoing Pragati Yatra in Begusarai.
Last November during the Winter Session of the Assembly, Mr. Kumar began touching the bracelet of his cabinet colleague Ashok Chaudhary when the latter was replying to the question of the Opposition. When Mr. Choudhary was speaking, the Rudrakash attached to the bracelet was shaking, Mr. Kumar turned back and touched his bracelet after which the Mr. Choudhary had started laughing.
In the same month, during an event in Darbhanga, Mr. Kumar had made an attempt to touch the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Opposition leaders including RJD chief Lalu Prasad had criticised Mr. Kumar, calling him a helpless a Chief Minister.
Mr. Kumar had also banged the head of Mr. Choudhary with Mr. Sinha in June 2024. Even in July, Mr. Kumar he offered to touch the feet of an engineer for the timely completion of J P Ganga Path project. Recently, he was seen touching the feet of former BJP MP R.K. Sinha at a public function.
Published – January 31, 2025 03:55 am IST