‘Jitan’ means the victorious one in Hindi – sadly, the nine month old as Bihar CM, Jitan Ram Manjhi could not live upto his name. Manjhi developed cold feet after he had asked Bihar Governor to convene state assembly so he could prove his majority on the floor. And on the same day instead of proving his claim, timidly put in his resignation which was promptly accepted.
He cited reasons of pride and ‘atma samman’ and said “he could not watch silently as parties were resorting to horse trading and some of his followers were getting death even.”
Ex CM and hopeful future CM Nitish Kumar said that the BJP’s game plan stood exposed and their manipulations of Bihar politics had failed.
Bihar BJP, leader Sushil Modi harped on Manjhi Ram’s caste and said they wanted to stand by him because he was a ‘mahadalit’ who had been given a raw deal by his ex colleague Nitish Kumar.
“First he makes a mahadalit the CM. Then he does not co operate whole heartedly with him and within nine months wants to dethrone him and come back to power again. We cannot watch silently as a ‘mahadalit’ is treated like this”. Said Sushil Modi using the word mahadalit at least thrice in one sentence.
Bihar politics has been taking new twists and turns everyday. Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary yesterday took away Leader of Opposition (LoP) status from the BJP and gave it to Nitish anata Dal ahead of the crucial trust vote.
BJP went to court over the issue but did not get any immediate relief. They have also been flip flopping on the issue of giving support to Manjhi during trust vote. First they said Yes, then they said No and then they issued a whip asking all BJP MLAs to vote for Manjhi.
The Manjhi group had earlier received a jolt when a division bench of the Patna High Court stayed the single bench court order revoking termination of the membership of four MLAs who were backing him. Now they will be debarred from casting their votes.
He tried taking his political battle to the streets by taking out a rally called “Dalit Chetna Rally” in Patna and asked the community to remain united in backing him.
Meanwhile breaking news has just come in from Patna where in a press conference given just minutes ago Sushil Modi has announced a change in BJP plans again. He says his MLAs will vote for Manjhi only if secret ballot is held. If there is open voting they will think hard before casting their votes and may not support him.
As usual it is RJD Lalu Prasad who has the most interesting sound bite to give.
“I feel very sad for Jitan Ram Manjhi. He has spoilt forever his political career by playing into the hands of BJP. He should have known whom to trust and whom not to” said Lalu.
