Samrat attacks LoP Tejashwi, says Nitish rebuilding devastated Bihar of Lalu era

Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday hit out at Leader of Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for "not being aware of the long list of misdeeds during the 15-year tenure of his father (Lalu Prasad) to leave a decrepit and devastated Bihar", which the Nitish Kumar-led government worked hard to make run like a Mercedes.

- Arun Kumar

PATNA:

"Laluji used to say, 'Ab raja ka beta raja nahin banega' (a famous dialogue from the film Super 30), but he ended up creating a rani (Queen), rajkumar (Prince) and rajkumari (Princess)," said Choudhary, who also holds the finance portfolio.

He was giving the government reply in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Thursday after debate over the last two days on the state Budget of 3,16,895.02 crore for 2025-26, which was passed by voice vote after the Opposition boycott. The third supplementary Budget of ₹11,187.14 crore was also tabled after the Opposition boycott.

Though Tejashwi was not present in the House during the debate, Choudhary chose to pointedly rebuff the points raised by the LoP, accusing the latter of "just reading out what is given to him".

"He says he is 36 years of age, but even at 74 years Nitish Kumar works four times compared to him and with a vision to take Bihar forward. No wonder, in Bihar the people look up to Nitish in the state and PM Narendra Modi at the Centre for taking Bihar on the development path for the next 20 years," he added.

The Deputy CM said Tejashwi claimed to have played cricket, but he could score just 37 runs in all his matches and ended up taking drinks to the ground. "Yet, at the age of just 13, Laluji ensured that he got Khel Puruskar, just as he ensured the quota seats in medical to his daughters," he added.