Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose ties with ally BJP have lately been strained, responded to a comment by Union Minister Giriraj Singh on "beating up officials" with thinly-veiled sarcasm. At a public event on Saturday, Giriraj Singh, who is a BJP MP from Begusarai in Bihar, was on camera advising people of his constituency to "beat up with bamboo sticks" officials who appeared insensitive to their concerns.