A furious Nitish Kumar screamed "sharabi ho tum (you are a drunk)" at the opposition BJP today as he faced protests in the Bihar assembly over liquor deaths in the state that has been dry since 2016.
Seventeen people have died in different villages in Chhapra district after allegedly drinking toxic liquor, and more deaths are feared.
"Sharabi ho gaye ho tum... (you are a drunk)," the Chief Minister raged at BJP MLAs.
"What happened? Keep quiet. You are talking? You do bad things. This will not be tolerated at all," Nitish Kumar was heard saying in a video, trying to shout over slogan-shouting and protests by BJP MLAs.
This is the second Bihar assembly session after Nitish Kumar ditched the BJP and formed a new government with opposition parties, including the RJD, in August.
The Bihar Chief Minister lost his temper apparently at BJP MLAs who held up posters attacking his government and demanding his public apology at the entrance of the assembly building.
Opposition MLAs later protested against Mr Kumar's "sharabi" comment.
The toxic liquor deaths are a big embarrassment for the Chief Minister, with his political rivals flagging it as more proof that prohibition has failed in Bihar.
The police have called the deaths "suspicious" and are yet to establish the cause.
"Three people died, their bodies have been sent for a postmortem. These look like suspicious deaths. I have also received information that some more are being treated at different places," said senior police officer S Kumar said.
In August, in a case in the same district, five people died after drinking spurious liquor. The police are reportedly looking for more who have been taken sick; they may have gone into hiding to avoid interrogation as liquor has been banned in Bihar since April 2016.
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