Oppn parties stage protest against Bihar CM's 'derogatory' remark

Opposition parties in Bihar on Thursday marched to Raj Bhavan to register protest with Governor Lalji Tandon against an alleged derogatory remark of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The activists, carrying flags of the RJD, the Samajwadi Party, the Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, the HAM and other outfits, which constitute the "Mahagathbandhan", were, however, stopped by police at the Income-Tax crossing here, about a couple of kilometers ahead of the Governor's House, resulting in congestion on the busy Bailey Road.

The protesters had skirmishes with security personnel, who faced a tough time in controlling them from crossing the barricades. They were dispersed after nearly an hour.

On Monday, while replying to queries about Grand Alliance, which he had walked out of in 2017 to return to the NDA, Kumar told reporters that he saw no hope for the loosely-knit coalition which was "picking up people from the road" (sadak par se logon ko utha kar shamil kar rahe hain).

Talking to reporters, RJD MLA Shakti Singh Yadav, who led the procession, reiterated that the chief minister had used the adjective "sadak chap" for Mukesh Sahni, a former Bollywood set designer who floated his political outfit a couple of months ago and joined the Grand Alliance last month.

Yadav also alleged that "the chief minister is on an abusing spree".

"He (Nitish) first abused RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha by calling him neech (lowly) and now he has berated Mukesh Sahni. Kushwaha and Sahni represent Koeri and Nishad communities respectively, both of which are extremely backward classes," he said