Nitish loses cool inside Bihar assembly over opposition's 'guns and bullets' jibe

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his composure inside the state assembly on Tuesday when opposition members created a ruckus alleging that his government was ruling the state with the help of guns and bullets.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his composure inside the state assembly on Tuesday when opposition members created a ruckus alleging that his government was ruling the state with the help of ''guns and bullets''. The 76-year-old leader, who stood up to admonish the unruly members, also had a slip of tongue, as he underscored the brute majority enjoyed by the NDA, saying ''our strength is two thousand and two''. The BJP-led coalition, which includes Kumar's JD(U) and a few smaller parties, had swept the Bihar assembly polls last year, bagging 202 seats of the 243-strong House. Trouble began soon after the House assembled at 11 am, with RJD MLA Kumar Sarvajeet registering a protest against the police's baton charge on village 'chowkidars' (watchmen) here a day ago when they were staging a demonstration to press the demand for a hike in stipends. ''The 'chowkidars' who were demanding a hike in their pay are very much employees of the Home department. Yet, they were treated in a deplorable fashion yesterday,'' alleged Sarvajeet. Several other MLAs of the opposition party also raised a slogan: ''bandook goli ki sarkar nahin chalegi (will not allow a rule by brute force, with the help of guns and bullets)''. This provoked Kumar, the longest serving CM of the state, who heads the JD(U) and has had a couple of short-lived alliances with the RJD in the past. He shouted: ''Do not talk rubbish. This government will run without any hiccups. Just look at us. We are two thousand and two. And just look at how many of you have been left now.'' Kumar was apparently referring to the RJD's drubbing in the last assembly polls when it returned with a tally of 25, one of its worst ever performances. When RJD leader Bhai Virendra reminded the JD(U) supremo of their two short-lived alliances in the last one decade, Kumar shot back: ''Yes, and you people always indulged in mischief, a reason why I pulled out never to return''. The CM also reminded the opposition party, which was unseated from power by the NDA helmed by him in 2005, that ''You did nothing worthwhile during the period you were in power... Law and order had been so abysmal that people feared getting out of their homes after 5 pm. So you better not talk nonsense.'' Amid the heated exchange, some of the opposition MLAs trooped into the well, briefly plunging the House into turmoil. The agitated members got pacified after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary rose to interject and said, ''We will call representatives of various associations of chowkidars for talks. Their demands will be looked into, and appropriate action will be taken.''

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