Won’t remove turban till Nitish removed as CM: Bihar BJP chief

“The BJP’s agenda now is to free Bihar from dictators like you [Nitish Kumar],” he said.

Amid the continued bedlam in the Bihar Legislative Council on Wednesday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had a sharp exchange with State BJP president Samrat Choudhary, when he asked him, “Why do you wear a turban?” Mr. Choudhary snapped back, “This is my resolve: to remove you from the post of Chief Minister”. Mr. Kumar threw him a puckish smile.

For the last three days, Opposition BJP legislators have been creating a ruckus in the State legislature, both in the Assembly and the Legislative Council, disrupting proceedings. They have been demanding the resignation of Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, following the chargesheet recently filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a land-for-job scam case. The five-day monsoon session of the Bihar legislature began on July 10.

“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked me why I wear a turban, and I told him that this is my resolve to remove you from the post of CM and the turban will be removed the day you will be removed from the post of CM, and for this, I need your blessings as well,” Mr. Choudhary said, recounting the incident to media persons outside the Legislative Council.

“The BJP’s agenda now is to free Bihar from dictators like you [Nitish Kumar]. The Nitish government is making the Opposition frightened and putting them under pressure, but no member of the BJP will get frightened now, this is confirmed,” he added.

Mr. Choudhary, who always wears a turban on his head, is known as a bold and aggressive State BJP leader. He has held ministerial responsibilities in several governments since 1999. In March 2023, he was appointed as Bihar BJP president in place of the outgoing State chief Sanjay Jaiswal. Earlier, senior State BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh had declared Mr. Choudhary as the “BJP’s CM candidate” in Bihar.

The BJP has announced that it will undertake a march on July 13, from the historic Gandhi Maidan to the State Assembly, to protest against the recent lathi (baton) charge on teachers. All party MPs, legislators and leaders are expected to participate in the protest march. “We’ll raise issues like recent lathi charge on protesting teachers, providing 10 lakh jobs to unemployed youths of the State and the issue of farmers,“ Mr. Choudhary said.