RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav Responds To Nitish Kumar’s ‘Itna Baal Bacha’ Jibe: ‘Won’t Benefit People Of Bihar’

RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav said he wishes Bihar CM Nitish Kumar well, adding that it’s not in ‘our culture that we say something to someone who is a father figure to us’.

Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday weighed in on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s remarks about the Lalu Prasad family, saying he takes the comments as a blessing and respects everything the Janata Dal (United) leader says.

On Saturday, in a veiled dig at former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad, Nitish had said, “Ab paida to bahut kar diya. Itna zyaada paida karna chahiye kisi ko, baal baccha (They have produced a lot of children. Should anyone have these many children)?” He made the remarks while targeting Lalu Prasad over dynasty politics.

The RJD chief has nine children, and two of his daughters – Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya – are in the fray in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Apart from Tejashwi, Lalu’s second son, Tej Pratap, has also earlier held a position in the state government, as minister for environment, forest and climate change.

Addressing Nitish’s comments on Sunday, Tejashwi said, “I said this yesterday as well, we have all respect for Nitish Kumar. Whatever he says for our family, we see it as a blessing but these are personal things and won’t be benefitting the people. 

“The Lok Sabha election is going on and there is no benefit to the people of Bihar and the country by talking about all these things. This is a personal matter.”

This, Tejashwi added, wasn’t the Bihar CM’s first time making such comments. 

“Now, the situation is that 4-5 people have hijacked Nitish Kumar… When the time comes, I’ll write a book, I’ll explain all these things. It’s not the first time that he has said this, he said this in the 2020 elections as well,” he said, as quoted by ANI.

Tejashwi said he wishes that Nitish Kumar lives happily. 

“I can only pray that his health remains good and he lives happily… It’s not in our culture that we say something to someone who is a father figure to us.”

Tejashwi made the comments at a press conference held after former Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) leader and Katihar MP Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser joined the RJD on Sunday.

Tejashwi Yadav has emerged as the main challenger to Nitish Kumar, who has been in power in Bihar for almost 19 years, in the state. 

In the 2020 assembly election, Tejashwi led the RJD to emerge as the single-biggest party. An NDA government – BJP-JD(U) alliance – subsequently took office, but Nitish briefly returned to the RJD-Congress camp in 2022 before going back to the BJP earlier this year.