Former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Rajballabh Yadav has triggered a fresh controversy in poll-bound Bihar after making an offensive remark about opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav’s wife during a public address in Nardiganj.

In his speech, Rajballabh questioned Tejashwi’s choice of partner and crudely compared her to a “jersey cow.” He said, “If he had married a Yadav girl, it would have benefited a daughter of the community. Instead, he brought someone from Haryana-Punjab, as if she were a jersey cow.”

The remarks provoked an angry reaction from the RJD’s Women’s Wing, which staged protests in Nawada. Led by district president Renu Singh, party workers marched from the RJD office to Sadbhavna Chowk, where they burned an effigy of Rajballabh and shouted slogans condemning his comments. “By calling Tejashwi Yadav’s wife Rajshree a Jersey cow, former minister Rajballabh Prasad has insulted not just her, but the entire womanhood. This will not be tolerated,” Singh declared. Protesters also raised chants of “India will not tolerate the insult of women.”

Rajballabh Yadav is no stranger to controversy. Once a prominent face of the RJD, he was expelled from the party in 2016 following his conviction in a case involving the rape of a minor. Though the Patna High Court recently acquitted him, his political credibility remains mired in disputes.

This latest episode comes at a sensitive time, with Bihar’s political atmosphere already charged. Just days ago, another storm erupted when a video went viral showing Congress workers using derogatory language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother during Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra. The dais at that event carried posters of Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Tejashwi Yadav.