Bihar constable who was told to do ‘thumka’ by Tej Pratap removed from post as his bodyguard

“Upon becoming aware of the viral video on social media in which Tej Pratap Yadav, honorable MLA of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, instructed his bodyguard (constable) Deepak Kumar to dance and the fact that he danced in uniform in a public place, an order was issued to reassign bodyguard Constable Deepak Kumar to the police centre,” and to appoint another constable in his place,” the directive from SSP Awakash Kumar read.

The video, which was circulated widely on social media, shows Hasanpur MLA Tej Pratap, the oldest son of RJD founder and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, purportedly telling the policemen to dance “or risk facing suspension”.

“Ae sipahi, ae Deepak, abhi ek gana bajaenge jis par tumko thumka lagana padega. Nahin lagaoge toh tumko suspend kar denge. Bura na mano Holi hai (we are about to play a song on which you will have to dance. If you don’t, you’ll be suspended. Don’t mind too much, it’s Holi”),” the MLA allegedly said in the viral video.

The constable was then seen moving to the music, prompting criticism from various political factions.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the ruling Nitish Kumar coalition, condemned Yadav’s actions as “typical of the RJD culture”. This behaviour was “reminiscent of the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi days”, where such disrespect towards law enforcement was “commonplace”, BJP vice-president Santosh Pathak said Saturday.

The Hasanpur MLA was unavailable for comment. But in a post on X, he wrote.

“Bura na maano holi hai… Aapsi bhaichare ke us parv ko bhi BJP aur RSS ke saath he inki ye Godi Media ne holi mein aaj nafrat ka ek naya rang de diya hai… Police wale bhai ho ya koi virodhi dal ke neta sabse bhaichare aur utsah ke saath bura na maano holi parv manane par bhi siyasat karna yahi inka dharm ban chuka hai. Desh ki janta jald inko sabak sikhayegi. (This festival of mutual brotherhood has been given a colour of hatred by the BJP and the RSS as well as the biased media. Whether it’s a police officer or a leader from an Opposition party, politicising the festival has become their religion. The people of the country will soon teach them a lesson.)”

Meanwhile, the RJD, defended his action saying “too much was being read into an innocuous request to the cop”.

“Tej Pratap can be seen saying ‘Bura na maano, Holi hai‘. Yet, there’s politicisation of the video to divert attention from the recent deaths of two policemen in the state,” RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari told The Indian Express, referring to the deaths of two Bihar policemen on the line of duty last week.