Nitish Kumar Hijab Row: A Samajwadi Party leader, Sumaiya Rana, registered a complaint with the Kaiserbagh police, Lucknow, against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for pulling down a doctor's Hijab at a public event in Patna. The controversial incident took place at a function where AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters on Monday, triggering a huge stir.
#WATCH | Lucknow: SP leader Sumaiya Rana has logged a complaint with the Kaiserbagh police against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. pic.twitter.com/Nxcllktn8p
— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2025
Bihar Minority Affairs Minister Defends Nitish's Act
Bihar Minority Affairs Minister Zama Khan defended Nitish's act, saying the chief minister had acted in a "fatherly" manner when he pulled the hijab off a young woman's face.
"The CM is, perhaps, older than the father of the woman in question. I have a daughter, and I could sense the fatherly affection he had expressed," Khan said, when asked about the incident.
RJD Once Again Questions Nitish's Mental Condition
Bihar Opposition party, Rashtriya Janata Dal slammed Nitish, asserting he has lost his mental balance and completely become a 'Sanghi' (RSS member).
यह क्या हो गया है नीतीश जी को?
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) December 15, 2025
मानसिक स्थिति बिल्कुल ही अब दयनीय स्थिति में पहुंच चुकी है या नीतीश बाबू अब 100% संघी हो चुके हैं?@yadavtejashwi #RJD #bihar #TejashwiYadav pic.twitter.com/vRyqUaKhwm
"What has happened to Nitish ji? His mental state has now reached a completely pitiable condition, or has Nitish Babu become 100% Sanghi now?," asked the RJD in an X post.
Mehbooba Mufti Slams Nitish Kumar
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba lashed out at the Bihar CM for pulling down the veil off a Muslim woman's face during a government event. Mufti questioned Kumar's continuation in office after the act. "Having personally known and admired Nitishji, I was shocked to see him pull down a young Muslim woman's naqaab. Does one attribute it to old age or the normalisation of humiliating Muslims publicly?" Mufti said in an X post.
More than 1,000 AYUSH doctors were handed appointment letters at the function, and 10 of them, including one, Nusrat Parveen, who was wearing a hijab, received theirs from Kumar at the Chief Minister's Secretariat.
Nitish, who was standing on a raised platform, exclaimed upon seeing Nusrat Parveen, "what is this?" and pulled the veil down, exposing her face.
Kumar, the longest-serving CM of the state, has been facing flak from political opponents, who have been alleging that the behaviour was proof that he was not mentally sound and, hence, unfit to govern the state.
(With agencies inputs)
