In response to Nitish Kumar’s comments, Nirmala Sitharaman calls them “shameful”

Nitish Kumar, the union finance minister, criticized Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday for his absurd comments on population control, calling them a “shameful statement.” “It is very shameful that a senior person who is the Chief Minister of a state uses inappropriate words to talk about women linking it with education in the Assembly,” Sitharaman said, speaking to the media during an election campaign in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

In an apparent attempt to appease the media, the finance minister stated, “Ask the leaders of the Congress family and the INDIA bloc, shouldn’t they have strongly condemned it?”

One of their alliance’s women spoke forward and attempted to downplay the problem. This demonstrates unequivocally the alliance’s mindset that views women just as a source of votes, the speaker said.

In his Tuesday speech on the value of women’s education in managing Bihar’s population, Nitish Kumar explained how a woman might constrain her husband during sex. The husband’s actions resulted in further births. But as women get more educated, they are able to control their husbands, which is why fewer people are being born, he said during the state Assembly meeting.

Following a wave of criticism, Kumar expressed regret for his statements and said he “takes back his words.”

“I’m sorry if I offended anybody. Nobody was supposed to be harmed by it. I have always argued that population control requires education. The CM said, “I have also advocated for women’s growth and empowerment.

The Bihar chief minister has apologized, but the BJP has called for his resignation over the matter, saying he has “lost his mental balance.” The BJP’s Nishikant Dubey said on Wednesday, “Do listen to Mahaguru Nitishanand Maharaj’s porn story telling and keep the population in control,” in a post on X, previously known as Twitter.