Nitish rebukes JD(U) leader and MP Sanjay Jha on first day of poll campaign

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar provoked controversy on Tuesday (October 21, 2025), rebuking his party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha even as he launched his election campaign from Muzaffarpur district, addressing rallies in the Minapur and Kanti Assembly seats.

The incident began as the Bihar Chief Minister was garlanding Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rama Nishad. As he tried to put the garland around her neck while she stood in front of him with folded hands, Mr. Jha, who was standing behind Ms. Nishad, suddenly stopped Mr. Kumar by holding his hand and signalling him to hand over the garland. Mr. Kumar then pulled back his hand and placed the garland around her neck, followed by loud cheers from the crowd.

Mr. Kumar then went back to the podium and, pointing towards Mr. Jha, said, “Ee gajab aadmi hai bhai, haath kui padke? (What a crazy man he is, brother, why did you hold the hand?)”

Mr. Jha is the working president of the Janata Dal (United). BJP State president Dilip Jaiswal was also present on the stage.

Garland controversy

Before every election, Mr. Kumar follows a tradition of garlanding candidates when he goes out to seek votes on their behalf, calling it a Vijay Mala, or victory garland. However, it is unusual for male politicians to garland women in Bihar, and Mr. Kumar has taken some flak over the past year over allegedly inappropriate behaviour, especially towards women.

The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) used the incident to mock the Chief Minister. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav posted the video on his X handle, echoing Mr. Kumar’s own remark against him, saying, “Ee gajab aadmi hai bhai.” Mr. Yadav also questioned the Chief Minister’s health, asking why he was reading a written speech instead of delivering an extempore oration.

The RJD’s official handle also posted the video on X. “The people of his own party are scared of Nitish Kumar the most. Who knows when he might do something unpredictable! They are holding his hand, anybody can shout at him and try to stop him. In this situation, does Nitish Kumar remain fit to continue as Chief Minister? You are wise, you think about it!” the Opposition party said.

Slams RJD’s dynasty politics

Earlier, Mr. Kumar launched his election campaign in support of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates in three Assembly seats in Muzaffarpur district: the JD(U)’s Ajay Kushwaha in Minapur, Ms. Nishad in Muzaffarpur, and the JD(U)’s Ajit Kumar in Kanti.

The Chief Minister slammed the previous RJD-led regime in the State, claiming that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his government had done nothing for the development of Bihar. He also criticised Mr. Yadav for practicing dynasty politics, noting that when he went to jail in the fodder scam case, he had made his wife Rabri Devi the Chief Minister and now promotes his sons and daughter in politics.

“Have you ever heard me talking about family? I never do; I work for the people,” Mr. Kumar said.

Listing the achievements of his 20 years in power, Mr. Kumar claimed that every sector had received the benefits of the government’s schemes, with a special focus on the empowerment of women.

VIP candidate rejected

Meanwhile, the Opposition INDIA bloc faced a major setback in Sugauli Assembly constituency on Tuesday, when the nomination of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) candidate Shashi Bhushan Singh was rejected by the Election Commission during the scrutiny process.

Mr. Singh is the sitting MLA and was elected on an RJD ticket in 2020, but was named the VIP candidate this time around. As the VIP is not a registered regional party, Mr. Singh was required to submit his nomination with 10 proposers; however, he followed the RJD’s norms and included only one. The Election Commission found his nomination papers deficient and rejected his candidacy.

Mr. Singh was one of seven candidates whose nomination was rejected by the Commission. The others were the candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Apni Janta Dal (AJD), the Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) led by Tej Pratap Yadav, and three Independent candidates.

The main contest in Sugauli is now between Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Rajesh Kumar alias Bablu Gupta and Ajay Kumar Jha of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP). The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Zulfiquar Aftab is also in the fray.

Last week, LJP (RV) candidate Seema Singh’s nomination was cancelled from the Marhaura Assembly seat, while the JSP’s Drig Narayan Prasad was rejected in Valmikinagar as his papers were incomplete.