Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has sharply reacted to the manner in which her mother and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi was addressed by CM and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar a day ago. During a heated debate with women members of the RJD inside the legislative council, the chief minister had pointed towards Rabri Devi, the leader of the opposition, and said in Hindi "her husband installed her when he hit a rough patch".
Rabri Devi first became the chief minister in 1997 when her husband Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, had to give up the post following a CBI charge sheet in a fodder scam.
Kumar's use of the expression "iske husband" was deemed as insulting and while members of her party opposed the same inside the House, Tejashwi Yadav later told reporters, "It shows the pitiable state of mind of the chief minister who is evidently not fit to run the state".
Yadav, the former deputy CM, who is now leader of the opposition in the state assembly, reminded his ex-boss that "Rabri Devi is older than him. She has been the CM of undivided Bihar. Even in terms of the relationship they share, she is senior".
The allusion was to Kumar often calling Lalu Prasad, an arch rival with whom he has aligned a couple of times", as an "elder brother (bada bhai)". Yadav, who is Prasad's younger son and heir apparent, deplored "a lady being addressed in a tone that was insulting".