Nitish Kumar Hijab Row: Worst Chief Minister?

When A Chief Minister Crossed The Line

Picture this: You are at a public ceremony, excited to receive your appointment letter as a medical doctor.

The Chief Minister of your state is handing it to you personally.

Cameras are flashing, officials are clapping, and suddenly, the most powerful person in your state reaches out and physically removes your religious head covering in front of everyone.

That happened in Patna on December 14, 2025.

The video spread like wildfire.

Within hours, #NitishKumarHijabRow was trending nationwide.

Opposition leaders called for his resignation.

Women’s rights activists organized protests.

Moreover, ordinary citizens were left wondering, How did we get here?

Let us break down what actually happened.

During a ceremony at the Bihar Assembly hall, Nitish Kumar was distributing appointment letters to newly recruited medical officers.

Everything was proceeding normally.

Until he approached a young Muslim woman doctor wearing a hijab.

Instead of simply handing her the appointment letter, Kumar reached out, grabbed the cloth covering her face, and pulled it down.

The woman stood frozen.

The audience fell silent.

Cameras captured every second.

What makes this worse is the context.

This was not a private conversation about identification.

This was public humiliation.

A powerful man forcibly removing a woman’s clothing, religious or otherwise, without consent.

In any other setting, we would call it what it is: assault.

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister tried to defend the indefensible.

He called it a “fatherly gesture.” Fatherly? Since when do fathers publicly strip their daughters’ religious identity in front of cameras?

The excuse fell flat.

It made things worse.

The Fallout: From Patna To Parliament

Within 24 hours, a police complaint was filed against Kumar.

Let that sink in: a sitting chief minister facing potential criminal charges.

The National Commission for Women received formal complaints. Opposition parties questioned his mental fitness.

However, here is where it gets politically interesting.

BJP’s Giriraj Singh jumped to Kumar’s defense.

He asked, “What is wrong with it?” This strange alliance between Kumar’s JDU and the BJP exposed complicated political calculations.

Singh called Kumar a “guardian figure.”

Guardians protect people.

They do not violate personal boundaries.

The controversy did not stay in Bihar.

It triggered protests in Gujarat.

AIMIM women activists demonstrated against Kumar.

It reignited the hijab debate in Kashmir.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah weighed in.

What started as one man’s shocking action became a national conversation about religious freedom and power.

How Does Nitish Kumar Stack Up?

To understand if Kumar deserves the “worst CM” title, we need to compare him with his peers.

Let us look at what the data tells us about the chief minister’s performance in 2025.

The India Today Mood of the Nation poll from August 2025 gave us fascinating insights.

Himanta Biswa Sarma topped the charts as the best-performing CM among small states.

Meanwhile, a staggering 61% of respondents expressed anger with Uttarakhand’s government under Pushkar Singh Dhami.

However, popularity is not the same as being “worst.”

Dhami’s low numbers reflect governance challenges, not necessarily controversial personal conduct.

Kumar’s situation is different.

His approval is not just declining, it is collapsing under the weight of a specific, shocking action that questions his basic judgment.

The Usual Suspects: Other Contenders For The Title

Nitish Kumar is not the first CM to face “worst chief minister” accusations.

Let us talk about the other names that regularly come up.

Critics have called Yogi Adityanath India’s worst CM.

They point to his handling of communal tensions and controversial statements.

A 2019 analysis highlighted governance issues in Uttar Pradesh.

However, Yogi has delivered on infrastructure.

He maintains a strong base.

Love him or hate him, he is effective at implementing his agenda.

Mamata Banerjee faces criticism for her governance model in West Bengal.

Opponents call her the “worst CM ever.”

Political violence during elections and confrontations with the central government have earned her enemies.

However, she consistently wins elections. She maintains fierce loyalty among supporters.

Rekha Gupta, Delhi’s newly appointed CM, stumbled early.

Her controversial remarks about the Brahmin community in October 2025 sparked backlash.

She praised Brahmins as those who “ignite the flame of knowledge.” However, she is new.

Her full story is still being written.

What sets Kumar apart?

The personal, physical nature of his controversy.

Policy failures are one thing.

Forcibly removing a woman’s religious covering is another level.

What Makes A Chief Minister “The Worst”?

Let us get real.

“Worst” is subjective.

A BJP supporter in Gujarat might think Mamata Banerjee is the worst.

A TMC supporter in Kolkata might point to Yogi Adityanath.

However, there are objective measures:

• Governance Failures: Can you deliver basic services? Is law and order maintained? Are people better off?
• Controversial Decisions: Do your policies divide rather than unite? Do you make headlines for the wrong reasons?
• Personal Conduct: Do you respect all citizens equally? Do you abuse your power?
• Public Trust: Do people believe you are working for them, or for yourself?

By these measures, Kumar’s hijab incident hits multiple categories.

• It is a governance failure.
• It is controversial.
• It is dividing people along religious lines.
• It is poor personal conduct.
• He is abusing power dynamics.
• It is destroying public trust.

The Legal Angle: Can A CM Be Removed For This?

Here is where things get legally interesting.

The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, is currently being debated in Parliament.

It proposes automatic removal of ministers who spend 30 days in custody.

While Kumar has not been arrested, a police complaint exists against a sitting CM.

That is unprecedented.

The bill also addresses the removal of ministers under serious charges.

If Kumar faces formal charges, it could trigger a constitutional crisis in Bihar.

The opposition is already demanding his resignation.

They cite a violation of constitutional principles of equality and religious freedom.

However, Indian politics is complicated.

Kumar has survived political earthquakes before.

He has switched alliances more times than most people change cars.

The question is whether this controversy is different.

Is it personal enough?

Shocking enough?

Could it end a four-decade political career?

Bihar’s Burden: What This Means For The State

Let us not forget the real victims: the people of Bihar.

The state has enough challenges. Migration for jobs is a way of life.

Healthcare infrastructure is stretched thin.

Moreover, here was a ceremony meant to celebrate new doctors.

Healthcare heroes who chose to serve their home state.

Instead of honoring them, Kumar made it about himself.

The young doctor at the center of this storm has not spoken publicly.

Can you imagine her position?

A new government employee was publicly humiliated by the most powerful person in the state.

Speaking out could risk her career.

Staying silent means living with trauma.

It is a no-win situation.

It perfectly illustrates the power imbalance.

The Bigger Picture: Power, Privilege, And Politics

This incident reveals something more profound.

We have normalized so much bad behavior from our leaders that we are shocked when something crosses an even lower line.

Corruption? Expected.

Communal dog-whistling? Routine.

However, physically violating a woman’s personal space and religious identity? That still has the power to shock us.

Or does it? The fact that some defend Kumar suggests our standards are slipping.

When a Union Minister asks, “What is wrong with it?” he tells millions of women their bodily autonomy does not matter.

When a Deputy CM calls it “fatherly,” he normalizes paternalistic control over women’s choices.

This is not just about one chief minister.

It is about what we expect from our leaders.

Do we want administrators who deliver results but lack basic human decency?

Or do we believe how you govern matters as much as what you achieve?

The Road Ahead: Can Kumar Recover?

Political comebacks are an Indian specialty.

Leaders have returned from corruption charges, criminal cases, and policy disasters.

However, Kumar’s situation is unique.

It is so personal.

So visual.

That video is not going away.

It will be replayed every election cycle.

Every time he tries to project a secular image.

Every time, Bihar’s governance is discussed.

His options are limited.

A genuine apology would help.

However, it would also be an admission of wrongdoing.

That could strengthen legal cases against him.

Continuing to defend his actions looks increasingly out of touch.

Staying silent makes him look weak.

Meanwhile, the opposition smells blood.

Tejashwi Yadav and the RJD are mobilizing.

Congress is making noise at the national level.

Even within the NDA alliance, whispers circulate.

Has Kumar become a liability?

What Should Citizens Do?

If you are reading this and feeling angry, that’s good.

It means you still have expectations of your leaders.

However, anger is not enough.

Here is what we can do:

• Stay Informed: Do not rely on WhatsApp forwards. Read multiple news sources. Watch the actual video. Form your own opinion.
• Speak Up: Social media matters. Letters to the editor matter. Public discourse shapes political consequences.
• Vote Thoughtfully: Remember this incident when the next election comes. Character matters as much as party loyalty.
• Support the Victim: The young doctor needs solidarity. Women’s rights groups are speaking up and amplifying their voices.

Trivia

Here is a fascinating tidbit: According to a 2025 report, 40% of India’s chief ministers face criminal cases. Ten CMs are accused of serious crimes, including attempted murder and kidnapping. We are not talking about minor corruption charges. These are violent crimes. However, they continue to govern. They make laws. They shape the future of hundreds of millions of people. Kumar’s hijab controversy, while shocking, does not even involve criminal charges (yet). It makes you wonder: have we set the bar so low that physically assaulting a woman’s religious identity is just another day in Indian politics?

Wrapping Up

So, is Nitish Kumar India’s worst chief minister right now? The evidence is compelling.

While other CMs face criticism for policy failures or controversial statements, Kumar crossed a line that should not exist in civilized society.

He used his power to violate a woman’s religious and personal space physically.

He did it on camera, at an official government function.

The defenses offered by his allies, calling it “fatherly,” asking “what is wrong with it”, only make things worse.

They reveal a mindset that does not see women as autonomous individuals with rights to their own bodies and beliefs.

However, here’s the real question: What does it say about us if we let this slide? If Kumar faces no real consequences, if he continues as CM, if this becomes just another forgotten controversy, we are telling every woman in India that her dignity is negotiable.

We are telling every minority that their religious identity is subject to the whims of those in power.

That is not the India most of us want to live in.

The Constitution promises equality, dignity, and religious freedom.

It is time our chief ministers started acting as they believe in those values.

What do you think? Is Nitish Kumar’s hijab incident the worst CM controversy of 2025, or are there other issues we should be focusing on?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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