Patna: The case against Union minister Giriraj Singh has triggered the Opposition to taunt the BJP and JDU to direct Giriraj to quit.

Tejashwi tweeted saying Nitish should go to the Governor's house and resign over the case against his "dear friend" Giriraj. "Nitish ji, if you have moral strength and pride yourself for your image, ask for a point-wise answer from Giriraj," Tejashwi said. Giriraj responded on Twitter, saying he came to know about the FIR through Tejashwi's tweet. "It appears that he (Tejashwi) is the architect of this case. In the absence of any information about the FIR, I will not speak on the merit of the case. I will go through the legal process. He (Tejashwi) should worry about the conviction of his father and his sinking party. It will do him good," Giriraj remarked.

Giriraj has been controversial in the past too. A few years ago a thief had stolen over Rs 1 crore in cash from his locked flat and got caught. Strangely, after that Giriraj was elevated as Union minister and emerged unscathed, as a close associate of his owned up the cash amount, saying he had kept it in Giriraj's flat.

Giriraj, who was elected from Nawada, belongs to the Bhumihar caste, a section of which has been strongly behind the NDA. Just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, he had asked all those opposing Narendra Modi to go to Pakistan. The RJD is always delighted to attack him when it gets an opportunity.

But Giriraj is the face of the hawks in the Bihar BJP. The case against him is unlikely to affect him. "Besides, the case has been filed against 33 other persons," said a BJP leader, stressing that the RJD and the Congress should not jump to conclusions and wait for the police to finish investigating.