Patna, June 19: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today took on Yogi Adityanath in a point by point counter-attack on the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the BJP - from yoga to instant triple talaq, and more.

Adityanath, at a public meeting in Darbhanga during his first visit to Bihar on June 15, had dared Nitish to speak out on the practice on instant triple talaq.

"Yogi Adityanath should first say which religion permits drinking liquor," Nitish told reporters who asked him about Adityanath's dare after the chief minister's Lok Samvad (public interaction) programme today.

"He should first clarify his stand on prohibition before asking (me) about triple talaq," he added.

The Bihar chief minister pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed support and appreciation for prohibition when he was in Patna to attend the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh in January this year.

"Adityanath should first ask honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji about prohibition. After all he has been nominated by him, and should ask a bit about it," Nitish said.

Nitish said that he had tried to make former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav understand the importance of prohibition, but not much could be done since Akhilesh's tenure was then coming to an end.

The Bihar chief minister also ridiculed Bihar BJP leaders' assertion at the Darbhanga meeting that Adityanath had "adopted" Bihar.

"Is Bihar an orphan that it needs to be adopted by anybody?" Nitish quipped, adding that the state was a strong and vibrant one.

The chief minister also took on the BJP's criticism that he is not enthused about the forthcoming Yoga Day on June 21 that the BJP and its allies want to celebrate in a big way.

"I practise yoga daily and propagate it to people in personal interactions. I don't believe in mere publicity. I want people to adopt yoga. I am not of that ilk that doesn't do anything except indulging in publicity. My work speaks about my views. We are developing a Vipassana (Buddhist meditation) centre at Buddha Smriti Park in Patna," Nitish said.

He asserted that the "yoga of publicity" was different from the real yoga.

Nitish said that he favoured the yoga taught by the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger, "which is the largest yoga institute in the world, and has produced lakhs of yoga teachers across the world".

He added: "People should learn yoga there. They do not need to wander here and there. Yoga cannot be made a topic of political discourse, otherwise it will become bhoga (materialistic consumption) of votes."

He took potshots at BJP leaders on their yoga prowess: "One of them sits on a chair while doing yoga (read Amit Shah), while the other does the seven-angle pose while doing the trikonasana or triangle pose."

On the Centre's hiking MGNREGA (rural job guarantee) wage by one rupee, Nitish asserted that his government has always demanded that MGNREGA wages should be at least equal to the minimum wages prevalent in a state.

The chief minister also said the central government did not seem serious not only about the ultra mega power project in Banka district, but several other infrastructure projects in Bihar.

He pointed out that the detailed project report on Metro rail for Patna has already been sent to the Centre and is pending decision.