Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during a public meeting ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, in Nawada, Sunday, April 7, 2024.
PTI Photo
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's opponents on Sunday cast doubts over his "mental health" after the septuagenarian's erratic behaviour at a rally came under the spotlight.
Kumar, who heads the JD(U), was in Nawada district to attend a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was only the second public appearance of Kumar, who is on the wrong side of 70, since the Lok Sabha polls were announced three weeks ago.
The last time he was seen at a gathering was on Thursday, at yet another rally of the PM in Jamui.
A couple of video footage of the Nawada rally went viral and the name Kumar was "trending" on X.
In one of these, Kumar appeared to bend towards the PM's feet with arms outstretched, before greeting him with folded hands. In another clip, of his brief speech, Kumar can be heard wishing "4,000 plus (char hazar se zyada)" seats for the NDA, to which he returned a few months ago.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who served as Kumar's deputy whenever his party shared power with JD(U), said he felt "anguish" over the conduct of his former boss.
"I was aghast to see a photo in which Nitish Kumar can be seen touching the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is such an elderly person. Has been a chief minister for so long. Few of his counterparts have had such a long tenure," said Yadav.
Twisting the knife, the young leader said, "Was not Narendra Modi the same person whom Nitish ji often accused of deviating from the conciliatory path of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani? Had he not cancelled a dinner to which the then Gujarat CM was invited and returned the financial aid offered by the western state?"
Yadav, who lost his job as Bihar Deputy CM as a result of the JD(U) chief's latest volte-face, was referring to the once famous rivalry between Kumar and Modi which had led the Bihar CM to snap ties with BJP, for the first time, after his then Gujarat counterpart's ascent on the national stage seemed inevitable.
A statement also came from Rajesh Rathore, who heads the media cell of the Congress in Bihar, where the party has an old alliance with RJD.
Rathore said, "The JD(U) should make sure that Kumar reads out from a written script on public platforms, instead of speaking ex tempore and causing embarrassment to the whole of Bihar with utterances like 4,000 plus Lok Sabha seats. He appeared to be touching the feet of Modi, despite being the latter’s senior in politics. Even if the gesture was inadvertent, it clearly shows the Bihar CM does not enjoy optimal mental health".
Incidentally, Kumar has faced flak from different parties, on earlier occasions, for slips of tongue and questionable body language at public functions.
Then in the NDA, he was flayed by the RJD for a photograph in which he appeared to be prostrating before the PM in 2022, at a function organised to mark swearing in of Yogi Adityanath who had returned as Uttar Pradesh CM for a second consecutive term.
While with Mahagathbandhan helmed by RJD, Kumar, who had served in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet, said at a function that he held the Home portfolio at the Centre, which was with Advani for the six years the NDA was in power.
Predictably, the BJP had heaped scorn on Kumar and alleged that the veteran leader was betraying senility.