Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Shambhavi Choudhary on Thursday defended Nitish Kumar, a day after the Bihar chief minister made an alleged sexist remark on a female legislator of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

One must listen to the statement made by Kumar in its entirety, Choudhary said.

“What he (Kumar) told her (RJD leader) was that it was because of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government that she could express her views freely in the assembly. He implemented several policies for women empowerment, such as reservation in government jobs and in Panchayati Raj institutions,” the Member of Parliament (MP) from Bihar’s Samastipur seat told PTI.

“His cycle scheme for female students was adopted by several countries. All these schemes were brought to Bihar by the NDA government and therefore, today, women are in a position to voice their opinions freely,” she added.

Chirag Paswan headed-LJP (Ram Vilas) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), are among constituents of the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition.

On Wednesday, the Bihar CM got angry when, during an opposition-led protest against the state government in the assembly, a few women legislators raised slogans of ‘Nitish Kumar Hai Hai (down with).’

What followed was his latest outburst in the House. Waving his fingers at RJD’s Rekha Devi, he angrily shouted: “You are a woman. Do you realise that it was only after I assumed power that women started getting their dues in Bihar? You are a woman, (still) you do not know anything. If you say ‘hai hai’ to me, then it’s ‘hai hai’ for all.”

“It was at my instance that you all agreed to a caste survey after which quotas for SC, ST, OBCs and the extremely backward classes were hiked,” the senior politician stated further.

The CM’s remark for the female RJD member drew instant criticism, with opposition parties alleging that Kumar ‘has no respect for women.’