Patna: Bihar Minister Ashok Choudhary on Tuesday downplayed a controversy triggered by his social media post that led to speculations that the senior JD(U) leader was taking a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Choudhary, who is among the close aides of the JD(U) supremo, also met Kumar at the latter's residence during the day and shared a photo of them together in another post.
Using the first line of a popular song from the 1972 film ‘Amar Prem’ as the caption of the photo clicked during the day, the minister said, "Kuch to log kehnge, logo ka kam hai kehna (People will gossip, it's their job). So please stop listening to hearsay."
The minister, who had joined JD(U) six years ago, quitting the Congress of which he had been the state president, landed in a controversy over an early morning post on X.
In that post written in the form of a poem, Chaudhary wrote about several situations faced by people in 'badhti umar' (after growing old). Each of those situations is followed by a single refrain: “Chhod dijiye (leave it)”.
In the post, he said: If someone does not understand something even after explaining it once or twice, then you should "leave” explaining; if grown-up children start taking their decisions, then you should “leave” them undisturbed; after a certain age, if someone does not talk to you or speaks ill about you behind your back, you should "leave" taking them close to your heart.
बढ़ती उम्र में इन्हें छोड़ दीजिए।।
— Dr. Ashok Choudhary (@AshokChoudhaary) September 24, 2024
एक दो बार समझाने से यदि कोई नहीं समझ रहा है तो सामने वाले को समझाना,
"छोड़ दीजिए"
बच्चे बड़े होने पर वो ख़ुद के निर्णय लेने लगे तो उनके पीछे लगना,
छोड़ दीजिए।
गिने चुने लोगों से अपने विचार मिलते हैं, यदि एक दो से नहीं मिलते तो…
There are other such situations also in the post written in Hindi.
The expression 'badhti umar mein' was interpreted in a section of the media as a jibe at Kumar, who is 73 years old.
Emerging from the chief minister’s residence, Choudhary said, "How can I say anything bad about someone whom I respect like my father? The post was entirely personal and it has nothing to do with politics.” The minister, who is known to frequent the CM's residence, almost every day, also asserted that no one received as much love from Kumar as he did.
"The post was related to children who don't listen to you after they grow up," he said.
Choudhary's daughter Shambhavi is the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)'s Lok Sabha MP from Samastipur.
Responding to his posts, senior JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar, without taking Choudhary’s name, told reporters: "How can anyone comment on our respected leader Nitish Kumar Ji? He (Nitish) is a great leader, he is incomparable and he is a leader of the masses. He (Nitish) has been the CM of the state for the last 19 years".
Earlier, Choudhary had sparked controversy after he blamed the Bhumihar community, a powerful upper caste in the state, for his party's loss in the Jehanabad seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
That remark had drawn sharp responses from ally BJP and the opposition, while the JD(U) said it was "personal”.