New Delhi: The Opposition Wednesday ratcheted up the pressure on the government over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, launching protests from Parliament to the assembly in the poll-bound state.
While the Opposition in parliament and the Bihar assembly came to attend house proceedings in black outfits, the Bihar assembly witnessed acrimonious exchanges between the ruling and opposition benches, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dismissing young RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as a “bachcha” (kid).
The rancorous scenes on the third day of the current assembly’s last Monsoon Session began when Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav allowed Tejashwi to speak on the SIR. As he spoke, BJP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha accused him of misleading the House and the public.
Tejashwi spoke amid the din and tried to corner the Nitish government and the Election Commission on the SIR issue. “The Constitution has given equal rights to all. We are not opposing the SIR, we are questioning the lack of transparency in the SIR. The EC is not working in a transparent manner. It has not held any press conference on the matter.”
He said the EC has conducted SIR earlier too, even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre.
“The EC is saying illegal migrants have come. They (the EC) want to conduct it in six months. The EC is saying there are fake voters in Bihar electoral rolls. Did Nitishji become chief minister on illegal votes, is Nitish a farzi (fake) CM? Am I a farzi MLA? Modi won from this voter list. If they had to do this exercise, they should have done so after the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
“Who is the Election Commission to determine the citizenship of people? It is the work of the home ministry not the EC,” he said.
Tejashwi then trained gun on deputy chief ministers Sinha and Samrat Choudhary and asked if they become deputy CMs based on votes by the illegal Bangladeshi and Nepali voters.
Sinha responded angrily, accusing Tejashwi of misleading people. “He is attacking the EC only to fool the people of the state.”
Tejashwi hit back at Sinha, calling him a “halka aadmi” (non-serious man).
The RJD leader then continued with his tirade against the EC. “The Election Commission has not allowed the Aadhaar card among 11 documents (to be submitted to the EC during SIR). Why ration card or MGNREGA card has not been included in the list of documents?
“Even after the SC rebuked the EC, they did not include these. Bihar has the least penetration for documents, only two percent people have the 11 documents which the EC is asking for. Four crore people have migrated out of Bihar, according to the labour ministry. There is fear, these people will be removed from the voter list. How come poor people will have these documents?”
After Tejashwi finished, Chief Minster Nitish Kumar rose to speak.
Also read: Nitish is not fit to continue as CM, NDA will lose power in Bihar come November—Prashant Kishor
Nitish’s caustic response
“You are a bachcha (kid),” he told Tejashwi. “Your father (Lalu Prasad) was a minister for seven years. Your father was a chief minister too as was your mother. You don’t know their history and their deeds. What they have done. Nobody would come out from their houses during their rule due to fear.”
Then Nitish attacked the RJD. “Whenever any work comes from your side, we do. What was the situation of women earlier? We have done a lot of work for women’s welfare. We implemented 50 percent reservation in panchayats. What was the budget size earlier? It’s Rs 3 lakh-core now and the Center is helping address the problems of Bihar.”
Tejashwi then rose again to respond to the chief minister. Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav asked him to keep his speech brief which riled up RJD MLA Bhai Virendra who said, “The House does not belong to anyone’s father (Yeh sadan kisi ke baap ka nahi hai).”
When the Speaker asked him to tender an apology for this statement, he refused. Amid the din, Tejashwi sought an apology if the statement hurt anyone.
Deputy CM Sinha remarked, “These people have massacred thousands of people. They are RJD’s goonda.” This prompted sloganeering and a protest by the RJD, leading to the adjournment of the House.
Before that, the Speaker also chided deputy chief minister Sinha when he stood to protest Bhai Virendra’s remark.
“Despite being a deputy CM, you want to create a ruckus. I will run the House, not you,” the Speaker told Sinha.
Outside the assembly ,RJD MLA defended Bhai Virendra’s remarks.
Back in Delhi, Giridhari Yadav, a Lok Sabha MP from BJP ally Janata Dal (United), attacked the Election Commission for conducting the SIR at a short notice. He said the EC exercise is like a “Tughlaqi farmaan”.
“The Election Commission has no practical knowledge. It neither knows the history nor the geography of Bihar. It knows nothing. At a time when it is the sowing season… It took 10 days for me to collect all the documents. My son stays in America. How will he do the signatures in just a month?,” the Banka MP told reporters in Delhi.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: No legal, valid ‘citizenship’ document that’s issued—how it puts big question mark on ECI’s Bihar exercise
