PATNA -- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also owns cows and calves just as Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi do, officials said on Monday.
According to the details of movable and immovable assets declared by the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues for 2016, Nitish Kumar owns 10 cows and five calves worth Rs 1.45 lakh, an official at the Chief Minister's Office said.
"Many people do not know that Nitish Kumar also owns cows and calves like Lalu and Rabri do," a senior Janata Dal-United leader said.
But officials were reluctant to give the exact location of his cattle shed. "The cattle may be at 7, Circular Road residence, which was allotted to him as the former Chief Minister in 2014."
Both former Chief Ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi are well known for their love for cows. They own dozens of cows and calves for years. Most his cattle are at the RJD chief's cattle shed in Danapur town on Patna's outskirts.
According to RJD leaders, when Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister, she had over 100 cows and calves and most of them were kept in the specially-designed shed at her official residence.
But when she was asked to vacate the place following the party's defeat in 2005 assembly elections, the cows were shifted to Danapur.
The ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar has the RJD and the Congress as the partners of Nitish Kumar's JD-U. Lalu's two sons -- elder Tej Pratap Yadav is the Bihar Health Minister and younger Tejaswi Yadav the Deputy Chief Minister.
According to the declaration, Nitish Kumar's only son Nishant Kumar has landed assets worth Rs 1.11 crore, making him richer than his father, whose total assets are worth Rs 56 lakh only, including cash, bank deposits, a Ford car, an exercise bicycle and a flat in Delhi.
Nitish Kumar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav is also richer than him in terms of movable and immovable assets. He owns commercial and residential plots and agricultural land and other assets valued at Rs 1.28 crore.
Tejaswi Yadav, however, has no vehicle.
His elder brother Tej Pratap has assets of Rs 1.24 crore, including land, a BMW car worth Rs 29 lakh and a motorcycle worth Rs 15 lakh.
The Chief Minister has since 2010 made it mandatory for himself and his ministers to declare their assets annually by December 31.
A Glossary Of All The Names Leaders Have Called Each Other In Bihar
(01 of11)
Open Image ModalEven as the battle for who heads the next Bihar government rages on, it seems that CM Nitish Kumar, RJD's Lalu Prasad, BJP's Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi have found new and creative ways to discredit each other. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of11)
Open Image ModalOn Monday, the present Bihar chief minister read out a poem, a parody of a popular song from the film 3 Idiots:
"Bahti Hawa sa tha woh, Gujarat se aaya tha woh, kaala dhan laane wala thaa wo, kahan gaya use doondho. Humko desh ki fikr sataati hai, woh bus videsh ke daure lagaate hain, humko badhti mahangai satata, wo bas mann ki baat sunata. Har waqt apni selfie khinchta tha woh, Dawood ko laane wala tha woh, kahan gaya use dhoondo..." (credit:Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
(03 of11)
Open Image ModalKumar's poem's literal translation goes something like:
"He was like the blowing wind, he came from Gujarat with promises to bring back black money, where has he gone? Find him. While we worry about the country, he travels abroad; while price rise bothers us, he tells us only his 'Mann ki baat'. He is always busy clicking selfies, he promised to bring back Dawood. Where has he gone? Find him..." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(04 of11)
Open Image ModalModi hit back on Tuesday, likening the JD(U)-RJD-Congress grand alliance to "3 Idiots", again a reference to the same film.
"Yesterday, I saw Nitishji doing some mushaira. He felt that he will call some courtiers and journalists, recite poems and defeat Lalu by starting a new form of entertainment," Modi said addressing a rally in Sitamarhi. "I knew there are three partners in the grand alliance — Congress RJD and JD(U). But I wonder why Nitish Babu chose a song from the film 3 Idiots for his first mushaira. Even if you wanted to parody a poem why did you think of the 3 Idiots?" (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of11)
Open Image ModalRJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar have also called the BJP bahari, because of the party's reluctance to promote Bihari leaders as chief ministerial candidates. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of11)
Open Image ModalBJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh has mocked the RJD-JD(U) alliance by calling Nitish Kumar a "divorcee groom".
“Laluji’s dulha is a ‘divorcee’. He is in the habit of divorcing anyone he marries and so he will not work for Bihar,” Singh had said. (credit:Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
(07 of11)
Open Image ModalLalu Prasad, has called senior BJP leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah ‘maha pisach’ (big devil) and ‘nar bhakshi’ (man-eater) respectively. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(08 of11)
Open Image ModalPM Modi in his election speeches has mocked Nitish Kumar for consulting a tantrik (occultist). (credit:Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Narendra Modi(09 of11)
Open Image ModalAddressing a series of election rallies, the PM Modi painted Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad as leaders with regressive agenda and with "18th century mindset," attacking the Bihar Chief Minister over the 'tantrik' controversy and said the RJD chief was leading the "Rashtriya Jadu Tona" party. (credit:theglobalpanorama/Flickr)
(10 of11)
Open Image ModalBJP's Amit Shah had also called Lalu Prasad a chara chor (fodder thief) in reference to RJD's alleged involvement in the multi-crore fodder scam. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(11 of11)
Open Image ModalNitish Kumar dubbed Modi as an "autocrat" and said that he and BJP chief Amit Shah have been rattled by feedback of an imminent defeat in the Bihar Assembly polls. (credit:Hindustan Times via Getty Images)