"By Keeping Ponytail...": Tejashwi Yadav vs Minister Over "Edited" Video

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday called out Union Minister Giriraj Singh for sharing an "edited video" of an interview to suggest that the young RJD leader was going back on his promise to create 10 lakh jobs in the state.

Mr Singh, a firebrand BJP leader, who has been tweeting furiously ever since the upheaval in his home state left his party stripped of power, had shared a video clip in which Mr Yadav can be heard saying, "I had made the promise of providing 10 lakh jobs upon becoming the Chief Minister. Currently I am the deputy Chief Minister."

Mr Yadav, who is himself very prolific on the micro-blogging site, replied by posting a longer clip of the same interview with some acidic remarks aimed at the Begusarai MP.

In the clip, the words spoken by Mr Yadav quoted above are followed by "but I have discussed the matter with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has taken it very seriously. We will deliver on the promise of job creation. Let us first win the trust vote."

In a below-the-belt reference to the Union minister's physical appearance, Mr Yadav wrote on Twitter, "Mister, you do not become a jnani (pandit) merely by wearing a one-foot-long ponytail. BJP has suffered on account of your chirkut (petty) acts and sadak chhap (cheap) public statements."

Currently in Delhi to be with his parents and to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with his sisters, pictures of which he shared on his Twitter handle, Mr Yadav is likely to be back soon for the cabinet expansion expected immediately after Independence Day, which would be followed, later this month, by a special session of the assembly when the new government will prove its majority on the floor.

The RJD heir apparent is also expected to bring along a list, formally approved by his father and party chief Lalu Prasad, of the names of leaders who will be inducted into the cabinet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)