Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed ignorance over his Education Minister’s remark demeaning Ramcharitmanas. Amid the furore over Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekar’s remark terming Ramcharitmanas, a poem based on the epic Ramayana, divisive, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar side-stepped the matter claiming he wasn’t aware of what the minister said.

“I don’t know what he said. I haven`t heard his statement or seen anything about it in the news,” the Bihar CM told reporters in Darbhanga on Thursday, on the sidelines of the inauguration of a newly constructed planetarium. 

Chandrashekhar had on Wednesday stoked a major controversy claiming that Ramcharitmanas stokes animosity and discrimination in the society. The BJP came down heavily on the minister, demanding that he tenders an apology at the earliest. However, the Education minister on Thursday reiterated his earlier statement, claiming that it the BJP which should apologise for ‘not knowing facts’.

BJP leaders have slammed Chandrashekar for his remark demanding his resignation. “The education minister of Bihar is a bogus man. They are not fulfilling their responsibility properly and are spreading religious malice by making unrestrained rants. Also, to hide their inaction, the students of Bihar are trying to trick the youth by making useless statements,” said Nikhil Anand, Bihar BJP spokesperson.

On the other hand, Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, “He is an ignorant education minister. He has insulted the religious sentiments of people. Ramcharitmanas is a way of life, such an education minister should resign immediately. Nitish Kumar has become Dhritarashtra.”