Patna: Bihar State Assembly on July 23 witnessed a fiery debate between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav during the ongoing monsoon session of the assembly.
Both leaders got engaged in a heated debate as CM Kumar interrupted LoP Tejashwi Yadav who was speaking on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive of ECI.
“What are you talking and why you are saying this. When you were young, your father was Minister (CM) for seven years, and your mother was also Minister for seven years. What was the situation then? I went with you for some time, but you were not doing the right thing, so I left you. We (JDU and BJP) have been together from the beginning, and we will stay that way,” said the CM.
The CM added that elections are round the corner and one can speak whatever he desires during the campaign. He highlighted the work done for the women and minority by his government and alleged that no work was done by the opposition towards women development.
“The Union Government is supporting the state for Bihar’s development. What have you done for women? What have you done for Muslims? We have worked for all sections. Do you even know? You were a child. Did anyone leave home in Patna after dark?” questioned the CM.
Earlier, LoP Tejashwi Yadav questioned that why the SIR drive was not started right after the Loksabha elections. He also questioned the transparency of the revision drive being conducted by the ECI in the state.
“We are not opposing SIR, but the process is not transparent. The Election Commission says they received complaints that people from outside have come as voters here. This drive was carried out in 2003, and it took a year to complete it then. Between 2003 and 2025, many elections have been held. Should we then say Nitish Kumar is a fake Chief Minister? All of us who were elected came here with the support of fake voters?” he said.
House adjourned after RJD MLA remarks escalate tension
The house was later adjourned after RJD MLA Bhai Virendra’s statement ‘does the house belongs to anyone father’ sparks tension in the house with NDA leaders registering their strong objection to his comments.
The heated exchange occurred during a discussion on the ongoing revision drive of the voter list, escalating tensions between the ruling coalition and the opposition.
The speaker Nand Kishore Yadav then requested the RJD MLA to apologies for the remarks and later adjourned the house till 2PM after the ruckus continued in the assembly.
Voter Revision Drive in Bihar
Meanwhile the ECI on July 22 claimed that it has discovered that 18 lakh of the registered voters have passed away, and 26 lakh electors have shifted to another constituency. The poll body noted that around 7 lakh voters are enrolled at two places.
“Out of the total 7,89,69,844 voters, 97.30 per cent, or 76,834,228, have been covered under the drive and only 2.70 per cent voters are yet to submit their Enumeration Forms”, said ECI.
“CEO/DEOs/EROs/BLOs are extensively working with the representatives of all political parties and have shared a list of 21.36 lakh electors whose forms have not been received so far,” it added.
The poll panel informed that ERO/BLOs have also shared a list of nearly 52.30 lakh electors who are reportedly deceased, have permanently shifted, or have enrolled at multiple places.
The ECI is conducting a SIR drive in the poll bound Bihar and expected to publish a draft electoral roll on August 1 before rolling out the overhauled voter list by September 30. The Bihar Assembly polls are likely to be held in October-November.
