Bihar: Opposition agitates for Nitish Kumar to quit for 'sex education' remarks in assembly

Opposition MLAs on Thursday raised slogans inside the Bihar Assembly demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his controversial remarks on birth control.

VIDEO | Opposition MLAs raise slogans inside #Bihar Assembly demanding resignation of CM Nitish Kumar over his statement on birth control which had triggered a row.

(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/mHV8HdXLtP

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 9, 2023

Reacting to the statement, Amravati MP Navneet Rana said that Bihar CM should talk about providing justice to women of Bihar. “We do not want your apology, you should give your resignation…,” she said.

BJP leaders staged a protest outside Bihar Assembly and demanded the resignation of the CM on Thursday.

VIDEO | BJP leaders protest outside #Bihar Assembly demanding resignation of CM Nitish Kumar over his statement regarding birth control which triggered a row. pic.twitter.com/YKrpPU1eCe

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 9, 2023

On Tuesday, Nitish Kumar embroiled himself in a controversy for his remarks in the Bihar Assembly, as he stressed upon the importance of education among women to control the population.

Nitish Kumar had put forward a vivid description in the Assembly of how an educated woman can stop her husband during sexual intercourse.

“The husband’s acts led to more births. However, with education, a woman knows how to restrain him… this is the reason the numbers (of births) are coming down…You, journalists also understand it well. Earlier it (fertility rate) was 4.3, but it has now reached 2.9. And, soon we will reach 2,” Kumar had explained.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma and Delhi’s women’s panel head Swati Maliwal slammed Kumar. Both had demanded an apology for the Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader for his comments about population control.

The NCW chairperson demanded an “unequivocal apology” from Nitish Kumar and said it was “on behalf of every country in this country”.

“On behalf of every woman in this country, as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, I demand an immediate and unequivocal apology from the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. His crass remarks in the Vidhan Sabha are an affront to the dignity and respect that every woman deserves. Such derogatory and cheap language used during his speech is a dark stain on our society,” Rekha Sharma said.

“If a leader could make such comments so openly in a democracy, one can only imagine the horror the state must be enduring under his leadership. We stand firm against such behaviour and call for accountability,” Sharma wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

BJP MLA Gayatri Devi said, “The Chief Minister has crossed the age of 70 years and has made nonsensical remarks. He used a word that we cannot utter at all. All of us women will protest against this.”

Bihar BJP slammed Nitish Kumar for his remarks and said: “Nobody has ever seen an obscene leader like Nitish Kumar in Indian politics. It seems that Nitish’s mind is infested with the desires of “B” grade adult films. There should be a public ban on his double-meaning dialogues. It seems he is influenced by his company!”

Bihar Congress leader Pratima Das said the Chief Minister should exercise restraint in certain matters. “Our society prohibits us from saying certain things in public,” she added.