A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that RJD leaders had put a katta (country-made pistol) to the heads of Congress leaders to force them to declare the Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial candidate, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday criticised the PM’s choice of words, calling it inappropriate for the office he holds. 

Speaking to reporters at the Patna airport, Yadav — who is the Chief Ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan — said the Prime Minister’s language was unbecoming of his office.

“I think he has such a mentality and thinking of ‘katta’, that is why he talks about ‘katta’. Maybe the NDA was formed by putting katta on the heads of their partners in Bihar,” Yadav said.

“PM Modi’s language is not right. What kind of language is this? I have never seen any Prime Minister speak like this. When he goes to Gujarat, he talks about factories, semiconductor units, IT parks, and data centres. When he comes to Bihar, he talks about katta,” Yadav said.

On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s absence from the PM’s Patna roadshow on Sunday, Yadav said, “Everyone knows the BJP will never make Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister of Bihar after the election.”

During his rally in Arrah on Sunday, the Prime Minister had claimed that there was a major dispute within the Grand Alliance over the CM face and, in a closed-door meeting, RJD leaders allegedly held Congress leaders at gunpoint to force them to accept Tejashwi Yadav’s name as a Chief Ministerial face in the Bihar Assembly elections.

PM Modi claimed that Congress was initially unwilling to concede the CM post to the RJD.

“I want to share a secret. Congress was not ready to hand over the chief ministerial post. In their closed-door meeting, RJD leaders allegedly put a ‘katta’ on the head of Congress leaders and forced them to announce the CM face,” PM Modi had said.

Yadav and the RJD used this remark to mount a counter-attack on the BJP and the Prime Minister.