Old video of Nitish Kumar taking dig at BJP viral with misleading claim

The ongoing political crisis in Bihar continues to deepen further. Nitish Kumar recently met with the Governor and resigned from the post of Chief Minister of the NDA government. Along with this, he also proposed to form a new coalition government. As of writing this article, Nitish Kumar has taken oath as the CM in a grand alliance with the RJD.

Against this backdrop, a video of Nitish Kumar is circulating widely on social media. Here, he can be heard saying, “After this, there’s no basis for going back under any circumstances. Whether we remain in power or become irrelevant (get mixed into the soil), we will never compromise with you in the future. Impossible! It is simply not possible now. Impossible! This chapter is over now because you people broke our trust.” A number of BJP leaders, journalists, and social media users shared the video claiming that Nitish Kumar was directing these remarks at the RJD.

ANI-affiliated journalist Amit Kumar tweeted this video and wrote, “We may become irrelevant but we will not compromise with the RJD. This statement was given by Nitish Kumar in the assembly. Listen for yourself.” (Archived link)

हम भले ही मिट्टी में मिल जाए लेकिन राजद के साथ समझौता नहीं करेंगे. ये बयान नीतीश कुमार ने विधानसभा में दिया था. आप खुद सुनिए pic.twitter.com/nnYJqcflRq

— Amit Kumar (@kumaramit06) August 9, 2022

BJP Delhi IT cell head Punit Agarwal also tweeted this as a statement given by Nitish Kumar targeting the RJD. (Archived link)

रहें या मिट्टी में मिल जाएँ, RJD के साथ अब कोई समझौता संभव ही नहीं है भविष्य में – @NitishKumar pic.twitter.com/rSAX0nGmKg

— Punit Agarwal 🇮🇳 (@Punitspeaks) August 9, 2022

BJP Madhya Pradesh leader and former IT cell state in-charge Shivraj Singh Dabi also made a similar claim while tweeting this video. (Archived link)

“इसके बाद किसी भी परिस्थिति में लौटकर राजद के साथ जाने का प्रश्न नहीं बनता…
रहे या मिट्टी में मिल जाये आप लोगों के साथ कोई समझौता भविष्य में संभव नहीं है।”#बिन_पेंदी_का_लोटा#BiharPolitics #NitishKumar #नीतीश_कुमार pic.twitter.com/uZ37gWUKjI

— Shivraj Singh Dabi (@ShivrajDabi) August 9, 2022

Right-wing propaganda portal Newsroom Post made a similar claim in its video report.

Similarly, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala, Aaj Tak anchor Shubhankar Mishra, Nishant Azad of RSS mouthpiece eOrganiser, along with handles like Political Keeda and MrSinha_, who are often found spreading false news also tweeted the visuals and accompanying claim.

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The video is widespread on Twitter as remarks by Nitish Kumar against the RJD.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a keyword search and came across a Dainik Jagran article dated February 18, 2014. According to this report, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, denying the possibility of rejoining the BJP, said that he would not compromise with the BJP even if it means he would become irrelevant (get mixed in the soil). He added further that it was impossible, and that this chapter was now closed.

Next, we listened to the live webcast of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha session held on February 18, 2014, on ‘Webcast’, the video portal of the Indian government. The full-length video of the Assembly proceedings from the same day is available on the site.

At the 1:19:23 mark of the video, Nitish Kumar says, “We did not betray you. It’s actually the opposite, you betrayed us. But now that this incident has happened after 17 years, know this – we all had faith, it was Mr. Atal’s era, now that era has passed. That’s why Mr. Advani called when we were separating, saying that the Speaker gave us a promise, and it would be fulfilled. We said that it is not possible for us anymore. And the Speaker who promised us this is no longer the speaker. And who will listen to these things? That’s why we went our own way. That era is over, now you have a new avatar.”

Further on at the 1:20:13 mark, Nitish Kumar says, “After this, there’s no basis of going back under any circumstances. Whether we remain in power or become irrelevant (get mixed into the soil), we will never compromise with you in the future. Impossible! It is simply not possible now. Impossible! This chapter is over now because you people broke our trust.”

Below we have added the full statement given by Nitish Kumar at the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2014.

To sum it up, several BJP leaders, journalists, and social media users shared Nitish Kumar’s statement made against the BJP during the Bihar Assembly proceedings as remarks targetting the RJD.