Nitish apologises for comment on women

BJP party workers burn effigy during a protest against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Pic/PTI

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday offered his apologies both inside and outside Bihar assembly for comments made a day before on the importance of women's education to control population growth which saw the opposition raising a storm of protest and forcing an adjournment of the house. The Bihar Assembly on Wednesday was adjourned till 2 pm, soon after the proceedings started, as the opposition BJP kept demanding the resignation of Kumar.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM

The chief minister, who was present in the House, rose to offer his explanation and said "I have expressed my regret while talking to journalists outside the House. I am ready to do so again. If my words have caused any hurt, I condemn myself (main apni ninda karta hoon)". The septuagenarian leader added "the context in which I had made the remarks must not be lost sight of. I have always been a strong votary of women's education and it was a eureka moment for me when I saw a direct correlation between education levels among women and fertility rate".

As soon as the House had assembled at 11 am, Leader of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha rose in his seat alleging that Kumar had become a "mental" case, was unfit to govern the state and should resign. The opposition members who remained unmoved by Kumar's apology, stormed the well, raising slogans against the chief minister and demanding his resignation.

Spat between NCW chief, Priyanka Chaturvedi

A war of words broke out between NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi over Nitish Kumar's remarks. NCW chief Rekha Sharma took to social media, demanding an immediate apology. Sharma also tagged other prominent female leaders, including Chaturvedi, Priyanka Gandhi of the Congress and Atishi of AAP, urging them to condemn Kumar's remarks and demand an apology. Chaturvedi, in response, said selective silence and selective action are doing a huge disservice to Sharma's chair as NCW chief "My dear biased, politically motivated Madam, as far as I recall, whenever we expected you to stand up for women, you chose selective silence and selective action-doing a huge disservice to your chair as NCW which is supposedly nonpartisan," the MP replied. Sharma hit back at Chaturvedi. "My not so Dear Priyanka ji do you remember how you showed your inability to do anything against a leader who was once upon a time in your party when I showed you all the proofs of his deeds? How unbiased you were...remember?" Sharma said.