Amid a grim debate on the brain fever outbreak in Bihar, the state assembly on Monday witnessed a brief exchange of sarcasm and repartee between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui.
Siddiqui, who was leading the opposition charge in the wake of the absence of Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, rose to offer a brief comment on Kumar's speech while intervening in a debate on an adjournment motion brought on the issue.
"I want to dedicate to the chief minister a couplet of late poet Kalim Aziz, who hailed from his home Nalanda district and was known to be close to him," said Siddiqui, Kumar's former cabinet colleague.
"Daaman pe koi chheent na khanjar pe koi daagh, tum qatl karo ho ki qaramat karo ho (there is neither a stain on your attire nor on your dagger. I wonder whether you have committed a murder or performed magic)," Siddiqui said.