Bihar CM Nitish took on a sarcastic tone while responding to Union Minister Giriraj Singh’sbeat up officials’ comment. When asked about his opinion on the minister’s brazen comment, the Bihar Chief Minister said one should ask Giriraj if the usage of words like ‘pitai’ or beating is appropriate.

The bone contention between BJP and its ally Nitish Kumar led JDU deepened when Union Minister Giriraj Singh was captured on camera advising his constituency to beat up officials who did not pay heed to their concerns.

The BJP PM from Bihar’s Begusarai was talking about public complaints about unresponsive officials during a public meeting on Saturday, when he said, “I say to them, why do you come to me for such small things. MPs, MLAs, village mukhiyas, DMs (District Magistrates), SDMs (Sub-Divisional Magistrates), BDOs (Block Development Officers)… these are all under obligation to serve the people. If they do not listen to you, pick up a bamboo cane and give a crushing blow on their head.”

While many raised voices against the minister’s ill-advice a BJP leader from Patna was quoted by Press Trust of India defending his actions and saying “Giriaj Singh is a mass leader who has to be responsive towards public anger. We should take his statement figuratively, not literally.”

His comments were further criticized by Bahujan samaj party officials who said such controversial statements can give rise to an upheaval in the country’s law and order. BSP national spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria also questioned the central government for not taking any actions against Singh.

Union minister Giriraj Singh who has earned himself a reputation for stirring up controversies had earlier accused the Congress of wanting to “divide the country” by spreading lies and confusion over the Citizenship Amendment Act and had said that if Rahul Gandhi has “love for infiltrators”, he can take them to Italy.Nitish Kumar