PATNA: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, the patron of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), alleged on Friday that there is a conspiracy to poison Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s food, following Kumar’s unsavory remarks against him in the state assembly on Thursday.
“Who made you the CM? It was my stupidity that I made you the CM. This man has no sense, no idea,” Nitish berated Manjhi for his previous term in office. Manjhi was made CM after Nitish faced a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Manjhi staged a protest outside the assembly Speaker’s office, seeking an apology for Kumar’s comments on Thursday.
Manjhi said that he has known Nitish Kumar for a long time. “He was a good person from 2005 to 2010. I don’t know who is feeding such things into his mind; that’s why we are saying that somebody is polluting his mind for his vested interest,” he told the media.
Manjhi insinuated that someone was influencing Kumar negatively, suggesting a deliberate attempt to tarnish his image for personal gain. The altercation between the two leaders originated from a debate on the Reservation Bill, during which Kumar lost his temper and criticized Manjhi for questioning the authenticity of data collected during a caste-based survey.
Manjhi, who assumed the role of Chief Minister after Kumar’s defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, criticised the state government’s proposal to increase reservations from 50% to 65%, urging a thorough verification of the survey data.
Expressing concern over inadequate representation for Scheduled Castes, Manjhi claimed that only 3% of SCs had representation in gazetted officers against the stipulated 15% reservation. He stressed the need to verify the actual beneficiaries of reservation policies.
On the last day of the winter session, the Reservation Bill was unanimously passed in the legislative council. The BJP, however, demanded an additional 5% reservation for Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), criticising the government for not incorporating this provision in the bill. State BJP president Samrat Choudhary expressed the party’s stance on the issue.
Only 3% of SCs were given representation
Expressing concern over inadequate representation for Scheduled Castes, Former Bihar chief minister and HAM patron Jitan Ram Manjhi claimed that only 3 per cent of SCs had representation in gazetted officers against the stipulated 15 per cent reservation. He stressed the need to verify the actual beneficiaries of
reservation policies.