War of words continued in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, with Janata Dal-United (JDU) Parliamentary Board Chairman Upendra Khushwaha pinning the blame of abuse of party leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his Deputy, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav. 

Sudhakar Singh, senior RJD leader, compared Nitish Kumar to ‘Shikhandi’ – a eunuch character in Mahabharata – and said he has no standing of his own. The son of Jagadanand Singh, the President of the Bihar unit of RJD, demanded that Kumar should immediately step down and offer the CM’s post to Tejashwi Yadav.

‘Going to have a negative impact on Mahagathbandhan govt’

Urging Tejashwi to take cognizance of the abusive language used for Nitish, Khushwaha said, ” I am surprised…As if it is the party’s line to abuse the Bihar CM.”

“Tejashwi is the leader of RJD and as far as Sudhakar Singh repeated misbehavior is concerned, he is passing the buck on his father Lalu Yadav. Immediately action should be taken against Sudhakar else it is going to have a negative impact on the Mahagathbandhan Government,” he further said. 

Sudhakar, a former Minister in the cabinet, tendered his resignation in October. The resignation of Sudhakar came after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had reprimanded him in a Cabinet meeting for his criticism of the Agricultural Ministry. At a public rally in Kaimur, he said, “There is not a single wing of our (agriculture) department that does not commit acts of theft. There are many thieves, and as I am the in-charge of the department, I become their Sardar. There are many other Sardars above me too.”

After the fallout with the BJP, JDU joined hands with the RJD, Congress, and five other parties to form the government in Bihar in August 2021.