A WRONG BOX GETS TICKED

In a 48-minute-long speech that he intended as momentous, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar took a 27-second wrong turn that had the Opposition crying "crass" and "vulgar" and asking for his resignation, the National Commission for Women weighing in too, and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav offering a qualified justification.

- Amitabh Srivastava

Nitish himself was forced into profuse apologies inside and outside the House the next day. 

The November 7 speech was meant to convey the government's intention to expand reservations for EBCs, OBCs and SCS/STs in government jobs and educational institutions as per the findings of the recent Bihar caste survey. However, in trying to explain how education can help women intervene positively in family planning, the Bihar CM got carried away in his levity. Not even minister Ashok Choudhary's explanation that birth control was crucial in a state with the maximum population density could entirely restore the CM's well-manicured sheen.