Rattled by alliance politics? Bihar CM Nitish Kumar loses cool when questioned by reporters on Patna crime

BJP leaders had taken potshots at Kumar for Bihar’s ‘poor law & order situation’ after a high-profile figure was shot dead outside his Patna home, barely 2 km from the CM’s residence, on Tuesday

Nitish Kumar (Screen grab from the video)
Nitish Kumar (Screen grab from the video)
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NH Web Desk

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday lost his cool during a media interaction after being grilled by reporters about the murder of IndiGo executive Rupesh Kumar Singh.

Singh (44) was shot by two bike-borne men on Tuesday while he was in his SUV outside the gates of his home, barely 2 km from the Chief Minister's residence. A father of two children below 10, he was a high profile figure known to many politicians and bureaucrats, as per media reports.

The police have not been able to arrest the killers so far.

"You are so mahaan (great). Who are you supporting? Main aapko direct pooch raha hoon (I am asking you directly)," a visibly-enraged Kumar questioned a NDTV reporter who asked him about instances of lawlessness on his watch, as per a report carried by the media outlet’s website.

"Your questions are completely wrong, entirely inappropriate. Don't call it apraadh (crime). A murder has taken place. There is always a motive. We need to see the reason for the murder. The police are looking into it," Kumar said.

"If you have any clues please share... Don't demoralise the police like this. What happened before 2005? There was so much crime, so much violence..." he said, evidently referring to the tenure of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The video of the exchange was tweeted by Sanjay Yadav, political advisor to Tejashwi Yadav.


Following the IndiGo executive’s murder, BJP MP Vivek Thakur had called for a CBI investigation, describing the killing as "as sad and serious".

Another BJP leader, Rajya Sabha MP Gopal Narayan Singh, had remarked that Nitish Kumar ‘had no control over law and order in the state’.

"The government of Bihar is running with our (BJP) support, but we are aware of the situation. It is also necessary to speak on this for the improvement of Bihar. I think law and order is poor in the state and corruption cases are on surge. There is no control over the law order in the state. There is no visible grip of our government on the current police system presently," he had been quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"Our expectations were that when Nitish Kumar became Chief Minister for the fourth time, he would work strictly on the law and order situation and rise above politics and think for the people of Bihar. But laxity is seen; it looks like the future is not looking bright," the BJP MP had added.

The Opposition too had raised questions following the incident, with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he was silent on the ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar when the JDU-BJP alliance was running the government.

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