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You are a child, know nothing: Nitish Kumar vs Tejashwi Yadav over poll revision

You are a child, know nothing: Nitish Kumar vs Tejashwi Yadav over poll revision

India Today5 days ago
A debate over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar elections turned into an ugly face-off between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav in the Assembly, with the former calling the RJD leader "a child" when it came to the conduct of the poll body's exercise."You are a child. You know nothing about matters like these. Only three days are left in this last session of the House. Let it conduct legislative business. Whatever rubbish you want to speak, you may do so to your heart's content during the elections," Nitish Kumar said on the floor of the Assembly today.advertisementAs Tejashwi Yadav was speaking about the central poll body's SIR drive, Nitish Kumar intervened and questioned his former ally about what they had done for the state.
"When his (Yadav's) parents were chief ministers, they did nothing, neither for the women, nor for Muslims, nor any other section of society. The only woman who got something was his mother," the Bihar Chief Minister asked.Questioning the impartiality of the poll body, Tejashwi was speaking about the timing of the while exercise, asking: "In 2003, it took one and a half years to complete a similar S.I.R. drive. This process could have been conducted after the Lok Sabha elections. It's the monsoon season in Bihar—how will people fill out the forms?"Stating that the Constitution granted everyone the equal right to vote, Tejashwi further asked why the Election Commission was not allowing voters to submit ration and aadhaar cards during the verification drive."Why isn't Aadhaar being linked? Why isn't the ration card being linked? The Election Commission's job is to conduct elections impartially," he said.This is when the Chief Minister, visibly upset with the discussion being allowed on the issue, chose to butt in.By the time Kumar got seated, several of the opposition members were on their feet, and those on the ruling side engaged in a shouting match.When Bhai Virendra, an RJD MLA, used an unparliamentary expression, the Speaker looked peeved.He told the leader of the opposition, "I have allowed you to make a statement. I am letting others on your side also speak, but you must first make Bhai Virendra apologise".Turning towards the ruling side, the Speaker reacted with horror when he saw Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, a senior BJP leader and a former Speaker himself, screaming at the top of his voice.The Speaker said, "It is disgusting that you are behaving in this fashion, despite being a deputy CM", before adjourning the proceedings till lunch.- EndsInputs from PTI
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Bihar voter roll revision: 91.6% electors submitted forms, 65 lakh names may be removed, says EC
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Bihar voter roll revision: 91.6% electors submitted forms, 65 lakh names may be removed, says EC

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Row over SIR doesn't bode well for Indian democracy
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Bandi sanjay slams Cong govt over BC Declaration
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