Nitish unable to handle his responsibilities, should pass mantle to his son, claims Rabri Devi

Patna: Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi on Monday charged her successor Nitish Kumar with failure in controlling law and order and asked him to pass the mantle to his son Nishant.

She was responding to queries from journalists outside the state legislative council, where she is the leader of the opposition.

"Although law and order problems are there in different parts of the country, the situation is particularly grave in Bihar", said the RJD leader, referring to the recent spurt in crimes.

She added, "Nitish Kumar is the chief minister and he also holds the Home portfolio. He is obviously out of depth. It would be better if he passes the mantle to his son".

Asked whether she was demanding the resignation of the largest serving CM, who is likely to seek re-election in about a couple of months from now, Rabri Devi said, "I am not bothered about details like whether he should first resign. But he must let his son come forth. He is young and will do a better job".

The remarks from the wife of RJD president Lalu Prasad, the arch rival of the chief minister, were seen as an attempt to fish in troubled waters of the JD(U), which the latter heads.

A day ago, former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who had quit the JD(U) more than two years ago accusing Kumar of having struck a "deal" with the RJD for merger, came out with a social media post, urging the former mentor to give up the leadership of the party while retaining the chief minister's post.

Like Rabri Devi, Kushwaha, too, had asserted that Nishant, possibility of whose entry into politics remains shrouded in mystery, represented "new hope", while making it clear that he was speaking about the party and not the government.

On Monday, Kushwaha spoke to journalists and insisted that he had merely "voiced the sentiments of thousands of JD(U) workers" with whom he remained in touch.

Meanwhile, Rabri Devi's remarks evoked a caustic response from the JD(U), as well as alliance partner BJP, which has, so far, maintained that 75-year-old Kumar will remain the NDA's "face" in the upcoming assembly polls.

Senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said, "We do not want to engage in a spat with a lady. But her party would do well to consider removing her husband as the national president of the RJD, despite being a convict."

Prasad, whom Rabri Devi had succeeded as the Bihar chief minister after he was charge-sheeted by the CBI, has been convicted in a number of fodder scam cases.

JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, "Instead of speaking about Nitish Kumar's son, Rabri Devi should worry about her own son Tej Pratap Yadav".

Yadav was expelled from the party by Prasad recently after the elder son shared on social media that he was "in a relationship" with a woman other than his wife, even though the divorce petition was still pending before the court.

Yadav has since been maintaining that seeds of mistrust were sown between him and his younger brother Tejashwi, their father's heir apparent, by those with vested interests.

He has also made it clear that he would like to contest the upcoming assembly elections, though it remains unclear whether he was hopeful of a pardon from his father or he was thinking of fighting the polls as an Independent.