National Anthem Announced, Nitish Kumar Walks Off Stage At Sports Event

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at a sports event in Patna on Thursday, left a trail of faux pas that may make him the Opposition target for days to come. His former deputy Tejashwi Yadav has questioned his mental stability and alleged that he has insulted the national anthem.

The Chief Minister, who was attending the inauguration of the Sepaktakraw World Cup in Patna’s Pataliputra Sports Complex, started by walking off the dais when the national anthem was about to begin. He got off his seat as soon as the moderator announced it was time for the national anthem, leaving cabinet colleagues and officials perplexed.

As a officials scrambled to follow, he went down to meet the participants, waving and shaking hands. After the long day at the state legislature where both Houses witnessed his fits of anger, he was visibly jovial.

When the officials tried to hustle him back to the stage, he stopped by amicably to chat with the mascot of the games, and insisted on shaking hands.

When the young man in the mask of the buffalo mascot BHIM, extended his hand, the Chief Minister wanted him to remove the mask, joking that it was scary.

Once he was back on stage and the  national anthem started, he was caught on camera laughing and talking.

He was seen tapping the shoulder of IAS officer and Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Deepak Kumar. As the official tried to remain calm and contained, the Chief Minister tried to get his attention and kept talking. In between, all smiles, he also folded his palms and greeted someone in the audience. Lastly, Deepak Kumar pulled at the Chief Minister’s sleeves to get him to stay still. 

As the video went viral, the opposition lost no time to flood social media with criticism.

“At least please do not insult the national anthem, Hon’ble Chief Minister. You insult youth, students, women and elderly people every day. Sometimes you clap on Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom day and mock his martyrdom, and sometimes you clap on the national anthem!” read a post by Mr Yadav on X, formerly Twitter.

“PS: Let me remind you that you are the Chief Minister of a big state. You are not mentally and physically stable even for a few seconds and your being in this position in such an unconscious state is a matter of great concern for the state. Do not insult Bihar like this again and again,” he added.

Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Nitish Kumar’s ally in the NDA, hit back.

“People who are insulting the country including Bihar are raising questions on the Honorable Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar,” read his post on X.

“I would like to tell such people that Lalu Ji and Company had made the name of our state “Bihar” an abuse but it is Nitish Kumar Ji who gave respect to Bihar on the international platform. On one hand, people of Bihar shudder at the memory of Laluji’s rule, on the other hand, Nitish Kumar was Bihar’s favourite yesterday, is so today and will remain so in the future too. Nitish Kumar is the honour of Bihar,” he added. 

Twenty-one nations including China, Indonesia, Japan, Iran, Nepal, France, Germany, Italy, USA, Brazil and hosts India are taking part in the tournament which will come to a close on March 25.