Patna: The RJD on Tuesday picked up chief minister Nitish Kumar's statement - that he would not compromise with corruption or those causing social strife - to attack him.

"Who has brought a communal party to power through the chor darwaza (thief's entrance)," leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav asked in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Tejashwi alleged that the BJP was out to take revenge for its defeat in the bypolls by causing social strife.

"Was deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi right about the Darbhanga incident that land dispute was the cause of violence or was Union minister Giriraj Singh right?" Tejashwi asked.

He berated the government for not taking action against Union ministers Giriraj and Ashwini Choubey.

The RJD has trained its guns at the two Union ministers, and Tejashwi has earlier alleged that some BJP leaders are working on a well-coordinated plan to vitiate the society through polarisation for electoral gains.

Tejashwi on Tuesday alleged that even the case lodged against Choubey's son Arjit Shashwat - for taking out a motorcycle rally in Bhagalpur amid simmering communal tension - was not "tough enough".

RJD MLAs stalled the proceedings of the Assembly shouting slogans demanding the arrest of Choubey and his son.

Tejashwi also took on Nitish over corruption.

"There have been 36 scams during his (Nitish's) regime and yet he says he will not compromise with corruption," Tejashwi said.

Even in the Council, former chief minister Rabri Devi blamed the BJP for vitiating the atmosphere of the state and asked the state government to recommend the dismissal of both Giriraj and Ashwini Choubey from the Union ministry.

The NDA appeared on the back foot on Tuesday. Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav, who has been leading the counter-attack on the Opposition, was absent. None of the BJP or JDU MLAs were willing to say anything on record.

"The perception that the BJP is running the show in Bihar must go," a JDU minister said on condition of anonymity. "There cannot be governance if there is a perception that the chief minister is playing second fiddle. Nobody, not even officials, will take him seriously."

The BJP, the JDU minister said, must "control" elements such as Giriraj and Ashwini.

Choubey, however, was unrepentant. He is reported to have declared that he was proud of his son and blamed the Bhagalpur administration for the communal flare-up.

"Choubey ji is trying to project himself as a candidate for the Bhagalpur Lok Sabha seat and his son for the Assembly seat," a senior BJP leader told The Telegraph under cover of anonymity.

Nitish was not in the House when Tejashwi spoke, though the chief minister did speak out at an event organised by former state Congress chief Ashok Choudhary at SK Memorial Hall.

The chief minister asserted that attempts to disturb communal harmony would not be tolerrated, and that he was "ready to pay any price" for it.

Political observers felt that Nitish's statement on Tuesday, coming on the heels of his declaration on Monday, signalled that he wanted to send a clear message to the hardliners in his ruling alliance partner, the BJP.