Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday claimed that the Nitish Kumar government is unable to handle Bihar and that his “farewell is guaranteed”, reported ANI.

The remarks came ahead of the second phase of the state Assembly polls, in which more than 2.85 crore of the electorate will pick their representative from around 1,500 candidates.

“There are only 77 policemen per lakh population in Bihar and job vacancies have not been filled,” Yadav said. “We are asking the public to give us a chance, so we can do what the chief minister couldn’t achieve in 15 years.”

Yadav also hit out at the Bihar chief minister for mocking his cricket career. “Being such an experienced politician, how can he talk like that?” he said, according to NDTV. “Can we not come into politics from cricket and films? Does he mean that doctors, engineers can’t come either?” Yadav had a brief stint as a cricketer, and has played state-level cricket. He was also a member of the Delhi Indian Premier League team before joining politics.

Yadav said he learnt about sportsman spirit, leadership qualities, and teamwork through cricket.

Meanwhile, Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan also criticised the Bihar government over the Munger firing incident and censured the Bihar chief minister for not speaking about the shooting.

Violent clashes had erupted between the police and a group of people over delay in the immersion ceremony of a Durga idol in intervening night of October 26 and October 27. While 18-year-old Anurag Kumar Poddar was reportedly shot in the head, over 25 people, including 20 personnel, were injured in the clashes. An altercation reportedly broke out over the manner in which the ceremony took place.

“[The] chief minister has been wearing ‘Sushasan’ [good governance] babu tag for the last 15 years,” he said, reported ANI. “But now, his loot is being exposed. He never spoke about Munger and doesn’t speak a word on corruption. He is known as ‘palturam [one who changes his mind often]’ as he was against Lalu and then formed the government with them in 2015.”

In an interview on Sunday, Nitish Kumar was asked about comments against him from political rivals, Yadav and Paswan. “How does it matter, one was from the field of cricket, another from cinema, let them have their publicity,” he told News18.

The first phase of the state polls were conducted on October 28, with 55.68% recorded turnout. The second phase will be held on November 3 across 17 districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday criticised Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The third phase will be held on November 7, and the results will be declared on November 10.

The NDA defeated “double-double yuvraj [two crown princes]” in the Uttar Pradesh elections, they will meet the same fate in Bihar, the prime minister said, alluding to Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

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