Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was carried away by his own rhetoric when he said on Sunday that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win more than 4,000 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be “back with four la-- (checks himself) 4,000 MPs”, Kumar, the leader of the Janata Dal (United), said at an election rally in Nawada district of the state. The Prime Minister, who was on the dais, was heard teasing Nitish after he concluded.
"You gave such a fine speech that there is nothing left for me to say," a leader who overheard them, quoted PM Modi as saying. At this, the Chief Minister, all smiles, bent and touched his feet (ref NDTV). Kumar's speech went viral on social media with users having a field day as the magic number cited by the JD (U) leader is 10 times the 400-seat target that Modi has set for the NDA in the general elections. It is also more than seven times the elected strength of 543 of the Lower House of Parliament.
This is not the first time Nitish has put foot in the mouth. The Bihar Chief Ministers imprudent remarks on female impregnation in both houses of the state legislature had led a major controversy and prompted Kumar to apologise for his comments.
In September last year, Kumar created a flutter both in political and bureaucratic circles after he ordered an official to call the home minister when a man approached him with a complaint, oblivious to the fact that he himself held the home portfolio.
The news of the JD-U leader's faux pas and genuflecting before Modi spread like wildfire. Today, I saw a picture of Nitish touching the feet of PM
Modi...We felt very bad. What happened? Nitish is our guardian...There is no other Chief Minister as experienced as him, former Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav commented on X.
A senior JD (U) leader refused to comment on the incident, claiming that it was being blown out of proportion as his leader had not touched the feet of the Prime Minister at all. He had merely tapped him on the knee.
