“What Has Happened to Nitish Kumar?” RJD Raises Questions
Patna: Barely a month after taking oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the tenth time, questions are being raised over Nitish Kumar’s conduct, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alleging concerns about his mental state following a controversial incident at a government function in Patna.
During the event, a video now widely circulated on social media shows the 74-year-old JD(U) president presenting a certificate to a woman AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) doctor. In the footage, Kumar is seen gesturing for the woman to remove her hijab and, before she could react, reaching out and pulling it aside, briefly revealing her face.
While some people in the background can be heard laughing, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is seen attempting to stop Kumar. The incident has drawn sharp political reactions. Calling the act “shameful,” the Congress demanded that Kumar resign from the post of chief minister. The RJD went further, questioning whether the episode reflected a decline in his mental health.
Posting in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter), the RJD wrote, “What has happened to Nitish ji? His mental condition has become extremely worrying.” RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said that Kumar’s action of pulling the hijab reflected the JD(U)-BJP alliance’s attitude towards women.
Senior RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari termed the incident “highly condemnable,” saying it exposed the “real face” of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He alleged that the BJP wants to remove Kumar and take over the chief minister’s chair. “On one hand they talk about respecting women, and on the other, a Muslim woman is humiliated on a public platform,” Tiwari said.
This is not the first time Kumar has courted controversy over his public conduct. A few weeks before the Bihar elections held in November—where the JD(U) and BJP alliance secured a landslide victory—he faced criticism after a video surfaced showing him placing a garland on a woman at a public gathering. When a JD(U) MP tried to intervene, Kumar was seen reprimanding him.
The latest incident has once again triggered a political storm in Bihar, with opposition parties intensifying their attack on the chief minister and demanding accountability.
