PATNA, Feb. 6 -- Chief minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav were on Thursday engaged in sporadic verbal duels over Bihar story in Bihar Legislative Assembly, with the Opposition and treasury benches holding on to expected lines. Giving government's reply on the motion of thanks to the governor's address to the joint session of both Houses, Kumar spoke at length on 'Bihar's turnaround story' and government's resolve to continue with the development work to make it a developed state, while repeatedly asserting that "nothing had been done by the previous government". He also took on Tejashwi whenever the latter tried to interrupt with posers, reminding him that he (Nitish) was contemporary to the latter's father (Lalu Prasad). "I gave you an opportunity but you tried to misuse it to earn money. What was the situation prior to 2005? Did anyone venture out after dusk? We established the rule of law and worked for all sections," the CM said. Tejashwi instantly retorted as to what was the situation now. When Tejashwi stood up to question the state's claim of development, the CM again hit back, saying he had given him the opportunity and told him that the government focus was on the 7-Resolves programme. The verbal duel continued for some time, as Tejashwi kept interjecting. "He was fine at that time, but later he started deviating. That was the reason I left them," Nitish said, asking Tejashwi how much money he had given to six MLAs to topple his government (in 2024) and where did he earn that money from. The CM said the governor, in his address, had highlighted the achievements and outlined the government's priorities, while emphasising the Centre's continued help to add pace to Bihar's development. "In the 2004 Union budget, Bihar got special financial assistance and in 2025 there was more support for western Kosi canal, airport and Makhana Board. The PM himself came several times to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects and programmes " he added. The CM said with the third roll out of 7-Resolves Programme, the target was to double per capita income, create one crore jobs and employment opportunities, give boost to women entrepreneurship through next phase Mahila Rojgar Yojana and strive for all-round development for a prosperous Bihar. "When Bihar will progress, you all will also benefit," he said, pointing towards the Opposition benches. The overwhelming strength of the treasury benches often drowned the feeble voices from the Opposition benches, though Tejashwi in his opening remarks did raise the issues of law and order, corruption, unemployment and lowest per capita income despite high growth. Tejashwi was not in his element and fumbled for words, struggling to complete his speech and eventually seeking permission to speak while remaining seated citing health issues. The permission was granted and he read out a long list of recent crime incidents, especially those against women and the death of a medical aspirant in a hostel, and attacked the government for spending Rs.40,000-crore to win election. "Had Bihar been a separate country, it would have been the poorest in the world. The state needs Special Status and special packages, but the CM has forgotten about it. We will back him fully if he utilises the advantage of double engine by taking an all-party delegation to the PM for the same. We will also urge the government to bring a fresh Bill for quota hike and urge Centre to put it in the 9th Schedule. We have done it by giving 65% reservation and they can further increase it to 85%, but the problem is that the BJP is anti-reservation," he added. Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said the pain of Tejashwi was understandable, as the era of 'jungle Raj', dynastic politics, carnage and corruption like fodder scam were things of the past. Bihar had moved ahead to script a new development tale due to strong resolve and commitment of the PM and CM, he added....