“I apologise, take back my words,” says Nitish Kumar after row over his population control remarks

Patna (Bihar) [India]: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised for his remarks in the State assembly on the role of women in population growth.

“I apologise and I take back my words…,” Kumar said to reporters after BJP legislators did not allow him to enter the legislative assembly.

On Tuesday, speaking on the floor of the Assembly, the Bihar Chief Minister he said women should be educated as it would enable them to avoid sexual intercourse from resulting in pregnancy.

Addressing the Winter Session of the Assembly during a debate on caste census yesterday, the Chief Minister made the remarks while underlining the need for girls’ education to check population growth.

Kumar in his address in the Assembly yesterday said that fertility rate of the state, which was earlier at 4.3 per cent, has now dropped to 2.9 per cent per a report last year.

“If my words were wrong, then I apologise for that. If anyone got hurt by my words, I take them back,” Kumar said today while talking to reporters.

His remarks drew outrage from the BJP as well as the National Commission for Women (NCW), who demanded that he tender an unconditional apology.

In a scathing riposte to Bihar Chief Minister, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla today said his statement was “despicable, disgusting, atrocious, obnoxious and women virodhi”.

“The comments made by Nitish Kumar were despicable, disgusting, atrocious, obnoxious and women ‘virodhi’. It only shows the impact of the influence of RJD…If they think like this and speak like this in the assembly, imagine what the plight of the women in Bihar…Tejaswhi Yadav has justified the statement and said it is sex education. It only shows the level this alliance is following,” Shehzad Poonawalla said in a self made video today.

Union Minister of State Nityanand Rai said that the Bihar Chief Minister has lost his “mental stability.”

“It’s objectionable; Nitish Kumar has lost his mental stability the way he spoke about women. Tejashwi Yadav’s statement in its support is also objectionable. Nitish Kumar is no longer worthy of holding the position of CM. You have destroyed the culture of this country. He should apologise and detach himself from politics,” Rai said.

Defending Nitish Kumar, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that it was wrong to misinterpret the Chief Minister’s remarks as he was talking about sex education.

“Let me tell you one thing. It is wrong if someone misinterprets it. The remarks of the CM were regarding sex education. People are hesitant whenever the topic of sex education is discussed. This is now taught in schools. Science and biology are taught in schools.

Children learn it. He said what should be done practically to stop the increase in population. This should not be taken in a wrong manner. It should be taken as a sex education,” Yadav said.