‘This is Bihar’: Nitish Kumar slams farmer for speaking in 'english'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attacked a farmer named Amit Kumar for using too many "English phrases" while narrating his thrilling life adventure. A farmer from Lakhisarai was speaking at the state government's 'Fourth Agriculture Plan' launch celebration at the Bapu Sabhagar Auditorium on February 21.

In his opening remarks, Kumar praised the Bihar CM for creating the atmosphere that allowed him, a management graduate with a promising career in Pune, to have the guts to leave it all behind and start growing mushrooms in his home area.

The CM is an ardent supporter of legendary socialist Ram Manohar Lohia, who championed the cause of vernacular languages as one of the many tools that can be used to remove social inequality. A JD(U) leader opined that the addiction to smartphones during the COVID-induced lockdown has caused many people to lose their own language.

CM Kumar, who remained in his seat but interrupted the agribusinessman, cut off the agribusinessman just minutes into the speech. “Is it England? You are working in Bihar, doing agriculture, which is the profession of common people," Kumar said to applause from the crowd. "This is India. This is Bihar," the CM said, criticizing the farmers. When the farmer started again, he was interrupted a few seconds later because he used the term "government schemes".

"What is it?" Can't you say Sarkaari Yojana?" asked the Bihar CM. He said he is an engineer by training and his medium of instruction is English. But it's another thing to use the language for academic purposes. He wondered why a farmer uses English in his daily life.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, slammed the Bihar CM for his actions, wondering if he was upset by English or something else. “Is CM Nitish Kumar angry with English itself or its use by subalterns? His objection to using English words in public speech is absolutely ridiculous,” state BJP leader and its OBC Morcha national general secretary Nikhil Anand said.