‘Do you want Hindi to be wiped out?’ Nitish Kumar’s outburst at Legislative Council chairperson now

“Iska kya matlab hai? Kya aap log chahte hain Hindi khatm ho jaaye (What is the meaning of this? Do you want Hindi to be wiped out)?” Nitish demanded from Thakur.

The latter tried to pacify the CM, saying only a few words needed to be translated into Hindi and the rest of the ticker was in Hindi.

While ‘honorable’ is set to give way to “mananiya” now, and ‘speaking time’ to “vaktavya ka samay”, a Bihar legislature official said they were planning to make other changes once the Session ends on April 5, to be on the “safe” side. “We need to replace ‘in the chair’ (for the presiding officer) with ‘aasan par’,” the official said, while claiming “a software issue”. “The tickers have been run fully in Hindi for several years.”

TV sets displaying the House proceedings are placed at several places on the Assembly premises to allow officials, political leaders and journalists to catch the proceedings.

The farmer who had drawn Nitish ire was a Lakhisarai resident, attending an event held in Patna for “progressive” farmers, who faced the CM’s ire for using words like “incentivise” and “technology”.

While Nitish is known for his preference for Hindi, as well as for his fluency in the lingua franca of the Hindi belt, this new-found passion for the language is something new. He was not known to have lost his cool over its use in the Assembly or at public functions earlier. In fact, rules in place making the use of Hindi mandatory by officials and at official events during the tenure of Karpoori Thakur (1977-1979) are a thing of the past.

Government rules in Bihar allow the use of either Hindi or English.

Questioning Nitish’s “sudden love for Hindi”, the BJP, whose own support for Hindi is vocal and well-publicised, said the outbursts of the CM could be the result of “age”. “The CM also lost his cool in the Assembly earlier. Age is showing its effects on the CM. He is no longer the kind of patient and graceful listener he used to be,” BJP OBC Morcha national spokesperson Nikhil Anand said.

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said Nitish didn’t need anybody’s certificate on Hindi. “First, the Opposition should refrain from making personal attacks on the CM. Second, Hindi is our national language and Nitish Kumar is known for his sound knowledge of Hindi. The Council chairperson took prompt note of his intervention, and changes are being made.”