Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his remarks against Hindustani Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi and called it “utterly shameful”. The Prime Minister was speaking at a rally organised in Hyderabad by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), a community organisation of Madigas, one of the biggest constituents of Scheduled Castes in Telugu states, which fights for the categorization of SCs.
“Bihar Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar) insulted Jitan ji in front of the whole assembly. This is utterly shameful. In the Congress-led INDI alliance, the Bihar CM is a part of, and he insulted Dalit leader and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on the floor of the assembly. Jitan was told he was not worth the CM seat, and that he didn’t deserve it. This is the true face of the INDI alliance, Congress and its members” PM Modi said while addressing the rally.
He also hit out at the Congress party, saying twice it did not allow BR Ambedkar to win elections and also alleged that the grand old party had not put up Babasaheb’s picture in Parliament.
On Thursday, Nitish Kumar said that his “stupidity” had led his former protege Manjhi to occupy the highest seat of power in Bihar. Kumar made the remark in the assembly when Manjhi, who formed his own party HAM and is now with the opposition BJP-led NDA, rose to express doubts over the state government’s caste survey.
“He keeps saying he too has been a chief minister. He became a chief minister because of my stupidity. Does he have any sense (ye bolta hai ki hum Mukhyamantri the. Meri moorkhta ki vajah se mukhyamantri bana. Isko koi sense hai)”, Kumar had screamed, causing commotion in the House. Kumar’s cabinet colleagues were seen tugging at his kurta, urging him to calm down and take his seat, though the septuagenarian did not relent until he had given Manjhi a mouthful.
He also said “journalists should also know the complete facts. They keep giving a lot of publicity to this man”. BJP members, who rose in protest, were told by Kumar, “this man has always been wanting to remain in your company. When I dumped you a year ago, I had asked him to stay put, but he insisted that he wanted to come with me. Now he has run away. He wants to become a governor. Please oblige him”.
The chief minister took his seat only after Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary told him, “after all, he had become the chief minister only because of your benediction (kripa)”.
The House was adjourned for the day soon afterwards, having finished the day’s business which included unanimously passed bills that raised quotas for SCs, STs, EBCs and OBCs from 50 per cent to 65 per cent, taking the overall reservation in the state to 75 per cent including 10 per cent of economically weaker sections quota which the Centre introduced a few years ago and was implemented in the state.
Talking to reporters outside the House later, Manjhi had said, “I will complain against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the governor and Union home minister. I will demand his dismissal and clamping of President’s Rule in the state. Only a couple of days ago he had brought shame to the state through his remarks about women. His repeated misconduct shows he is no more in a sound state of mind and cannot be entrusted to hold such an important post”.
As Manjhi spoke, he was flanked on both sides by BJP MLAs, who expressed solidarity with the HAM chief and accused Kumar of having “insulted a Dalit”.
Notably, Manjhi had become the chief minister in May 2014, when Kumar had stepped down owning moral responsibility for the JD(U)’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls. However, less than a year later, Manjhi stepped down, faced with accusations of trying to engineer a split in the JD(U), which led to Kumar’s return as the chief minister.
Manjhi subsequently floated HAM and contested the 2015 assembly polls as a member of the NDA. A few months after Kumar’s return to the BJP-led coalition in 2017, Manjhi hopped over to the Mahagathbandhan, which was then left with only the RJD and the Congress. Manjhi returned to the NDA in 2020 and his party was given seats to contest from the JD(U)’s quota while his son Santosh Suman got a ministerial berth.
Last year, when Kumar did yet another volte face, Manjhi followed suit which helped his son retain his ministership. However, in June this year, Suman resigned as minister and Manjhi announced his exit from the Mahagathbandhan, alleging that Kumar was putting pressure on him to merge HAM with JD(U).
(with inputs from PTI)
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