Tejashwi seeks Samrat Choudhary’s resignation over Jamui incident

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav addresses a press conference at his residence, in Patna on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. | Photo Credit: ANI Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary over the Jamui incident in which a minor girl and boy were harassed. Mr. Yadav asserted that Mr. Choudhary was not able to run the State, as law and order had collapsed and the situation was alarming.He alleged that the Chief Minister seemed to be occupied only with lighting lamps and photo ops, whereas the leaders in power were making absurd statements about the incidents.“The incident in Jamui has shamed the entire State of Bihar and the nation. Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had declared that he would resign immediately if such an incident involving women or girls occurred anywhere in Bihar. If the Chief Minister stands by his word, he should resign,” Mr. Yadav said.An old video of Mr. Choudhary, dated September 29, 2025, when he was Deputy Chief Minister, has now gone viral, in which he says that if anyone returning home from the village at midnight is touched, he will resign the next morning.After becoming Chief Minister, Mr. Choudhary has repeatedly said people could travel safely through Bihar villages at night if they had no personal enemies.Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) National Working President also criticised Janata Dal (United) State president Umesh Singh Kushwaha and Minister from the same party Shrawon Kumar, both of whom termed the incident chitput ghatna (sporadic incident).Mr. Yadav also took a dig at Bihar Minister Shreyasi Singh, whose controversial remarks have started a political debate. Ms. Singh, who represents the Jamui Assembly constituency, said while speaking on a national news channel that moral policing can be done more decently and elegantly.Congress Rajya Sabha member Pawan Khera slammed the Minister by posting a message on X.“Bihar Government’s Jamui MLA and Sports Minister, Shreyasi Singh, says: “Moral policing can be done in a decent and elegant fashion. But the way they mishandled and mistreated the boy and the girl together is absolutely not tolerable.” So, what is next? “Rapes are fine as long as they are ‘decent and elegant’ - and not violent?” Intrusion - verbal, physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual - does not become acceptable simply because it is done “decently” or “elegantly.” The problem is not the manner of intrusion. The problem is the intrusion itself,” Mr. Khera said in the post.Criticising them, Mr. Yadav said that the manner in which ruling party members were commenting on the Jamui incident and attempting to justify it was inappropriate. He added that Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh was attempting to cover up the matter by citing the previous government, and Sports Minister Shreyasi Singh was speaking of ‘moral policing’ in this context.“I want to ask them: would they speak this way if such an incident had occurred in their own families? To divert the attention from the government’s embarrassment, they made such shameful statements, which brought further disgrace to Bihar,” Mr. Yadav said.On the other hand, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi indirectly criticised the RJD leader by saying that the accused arrested in the case were from the Yadav community.“Tejashwi ji keeps saying that every “Yadav” in Bihar-UP is his brother. So, some of those brothers had teased a girl in Jamui and made a video to defame our government. Now Tejashwi Yadav will say, “Samrat Choudhary got my brother shot.” I will still say, Tejashwi ji,, warn your brothers; otherwise Samrat’s government won’t spare anyone. It’s “Samrat’s good governance,” Mr. Manjhi wrote on X.Asked about Mr. Manjhi’s indirect attack, Mr. Yadav called it meaningless. Published - September 22, 2026 07:37 pm IST