House spat: Nitish calls Rabri 'inconsequential'

A fresh round of war of words has erupted between chief minister Nitish Kumar and Opposition leader Rabri Devi in the legislative council on Tuesday, with the former dubbing the latter an inconsequential political figure and somehow who has everything (in politics) due to her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav.

- Subhash Pathak

PATNA:

The verbal duel was triggered when Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) members, mostly wearing green t-shirts printed with a message seeking inclusion of the provision of 65% reservation under the IXth Schedule of the Constitution, were asking the CM to clarify their stand on the issue. Kumar, also the JD(U) president, got visibly miffed at the sight of RJD MLCs reaching the House wearing badges, dyed in green, the colour of the party flag, with slogans declaring that quotas for deprived castes had been hiked in the state by the "Tejashwi government" and were "stolen" after BJP returned to power.

The state government had passed two laws, increasing 65% reservation in government jobs and in admission in educational institutions, when RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was Nitish Kumar's deputy in 2023. However, months later, the Patna high court had quashed the laws. The state government had challenged the HC's judgment in the apex court.