Nitish Kumar stokes another row with ‘girls did not wear clothes’ remark

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
| Photo Credit: PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has courted controversy again with a purported ‘sexist’ remark that girls did not wear clothes in the past. He made the remark on Saturday (January 18, 2025) while interacting with a group of Jeevika Didis during his ongoing Pragati Yatra in Begusarai.

Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Tejashwi Yadav slammed Mr. Kumar for the remark. Sharing a video of the incident on social media platform X, he called the remark an insult to half the population of Bihar, referring to women in the State.

“Now it [the condition] has become so good [that] everyone is wearing such good clothes and they speak so well. Earlier they were not able to speak. Wherever I go, I visit Jeevika didis. Did we see them wearing clothes earlier?” Mr. Kumar is heard saying in the video shared by Mr. Yadav. The video has gone viral on social media.

“Earlier, the daughters of Bihar wore not only clothes but also self-respect, self-reliance and honour, Nitish Kumar ji. Don’t become a ‘women’s clothing scientist’! You are a CM not a Women Fashion Designer. Stop displaying your poor thinking by becoming a ‘women’s clothing expert’. This is not a statement, but a direct insult to half the population of Bihar,” Mr. Yadav said in the X post.

Rows in the past

When the Chief Minister, who is the chief of the Janata Dal (United), made the remark, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Cabinet Minister Vijay Chaudhary of JD(U) were present, and they became uncomfortable urging him to move ahead.

This is not the first time that Mr. Kumar has made a controversial comment. In 2023, he made a statement in the State Assembly on the role of women’s education in population control and drew flak.

The very next day, he apologised with folded hands. At that time, the BJP was in the opposition in Bihar and had demanded his resignation. The party protested inside the Assembly back then over the remark.

Last year, during the Lok Sabha election campaign, Mr. Kumar had made a personal attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad saying he did not do any work during his tenure and “only produced children”.

Tejashwi slams Nitish

Later, Mr. Yadav while interacting with the media outside 10, Circular Road, the official residence of former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, further attacked Mr. Kumar over his remark on women’s clothes.

“He has put down the heads of the entire Bihar by issuing such statements. I have no words to condemn. He is clearly saying that earlier women did not wear clothes. Does he mean to say that earlier women used to roam around wearing leaves? Nitish Kumar should ask his women MLAs and women ministers whether they used to roam naked earlier or what? The women MLAs should tell whether they used to wear the clothes earlier or not?” Mr. Yadav said.

He added that Mr. Kumar had issued such statements in the past as well and continued to do so.

“His statement has proved that he is no longer capable of running the state as Chief Minister. I have been saying for many days that a tired CM is running the state with retired officers. He has no vision,” Mr. Yadav said.