Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday hit back at Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das for his criticism of Bihar's education system and invitation to students to study there.

"Is he inviting meritorious students from Bihar to serve them liquor," Tejashwi asked. "Before inviting them, he should first check how many Bihari students have cracked UPSC and IIT."

Tejashwi also mentioned Raghubar's earlier statement about not giving grade C or D jobs to people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. "If I'm not wrong, the Jharkhand chief minister had earlier said he will not give jobs to people from Bihar and now he is inviting our students to his state," Tejashwi said. "The government of Jharkhand is for traders and businessmen; they just want to take the money."

Tejashwi's attack came after he reached Ranchi with chief minister Nitish Kumar. He was there to attend the Eastern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Reacting to the intermediate topper scam in Bihar, Raghubar had on Sunday accused Nitish of ruining the intellect and mental ability of students. Alleging that Bihar officials were taking Rs 10 lakh to promote failed students, he urged parents of students in Bihar to send their children to Jharkhand.

On Raghubar's criticism of Nitish, Tejashwi said the people of Bihar had elected Nitish a third time while the people of Jharkhand had not given him their mandate (Raghubar was not the face of the polls).

After Raghubar's comment on Bihar's education system, even RJD chief Lalu Prasad had attacked him on Sunday night, saying students of Bihar do not need to go to Jharkhand for education. He said everyone knows how people from Bihar living in Jharkhand are treated as second-class citizens and asserted that Jharkhand is run from Delhi and Nagpur. State education minister Ashok Choudhary had wondered why children were joining Maoists in Jharkhand if the education system there is better.