A masterstroke or a mistake?

- The Hindu

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Opinion Comment
A masterstroke or a mistake?
Amarnath Tewary

With Jitan Ram Manjhi (right) carving out his own place in Bihars political field, Nitish Kumar is slowly being sidelined. Picture shows the
two leaders in Jehanabad, Bihar. PHOTO: PTI

PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhis statements may be embarrassing for Nitish Kumar and his party but they have struck a
political chord with the Dalit community

In May, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar handpicked one of his cabinet colleagues Jitan Ram Manjhi from the
Maha Dalit community to succeed him, he did not realise that his masterstroke would soon prove to be a political
disaster for his party and a nightmare for him. Little did Mr. Kumar know that Mr. Manjhi would become a political
liability and a calculated game plan would go horribly wrong.
On becoming the third Dalit Chief Minister of the State after Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das, Mr. Manjhi
realised his socio-politico strength and refused to become a remote-controlled or puppet Chief Minister of his
predecessor, as many had believed he would be. Instead, he began nursing his own constituency in Bihars caste-ridden
political firmament. Mr. Manjhi made headlines with controversial statements and slowly nudged Mr. Kumar into the
inside pages of newspapers.
Acknowledging the fact that he was not elected but was made Chief Minister, Mr. Manjhi keenly observed the nuances
of governance for a month, but started acting on his own thereafter. He also knew that he had been anointed as a
stop-gap Chief Minister only for a limited period of time as Mr. Kumar was re-elected as the leader of the Janata Dal
(United) Legislature Party. Under Mr. Kumar, the party will contest the State Assembly elections due in October or
November next year. In the game of political peek-a-boo, Mr. Manjhi also realised that by making him his successor,
Mr. Kumar has, in fact, been making steady moves to seize the Dalit vote bank (comprising 16 per cent of the
electorate) which, with the support of votes from the Extremely Backward Caste, (who comprise 30 per cent of the
electorate), will most likely make him politically invincible, despite the Bharatiya Janata Partys surge in the State.
Nursing political ambitions
It was a deft move by Mr. Kumar to carve out a political space for himself in the changing political scenario of the State.
But being a seasoned politician who began his political career with the Congress party, moving later to the Rashtriya
Janata Dal and then the JD(U), Mr. Manjhi knew how to nurse his political ambitions. He knew that to remain relevant
he would have to carve out his own place. This is where the real nightmare began to unfold for Mr. Kumar and his party
when the Chief Minister began shooting a barrage of controversial statements.

If Nitish Kumar
removes Jitan Ram
Manjhi, he will lose
Dalit votes and
there will be a
conspicuous rift
between lower
caste and upper
caste leaders

However, though the Chief Ministers statements have been embarrassing for the
party, they have managed to strike a chord with the Dalit community. It also appears
as though Mr. Manjhi has been making these statements to prevent leaders such as
Mr. Kumar and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan from carrying the tag of
Dalit leaders. With some struggle Ive become the Chief Minister of the State. Who
knows, one day I may become the Prime Minister, he declared at a function. He also
stated on his home turf in Gaya that the next Chief Minister of the State must come
from his area.
But Mr. Manjhi has also become a man of many gaffes. He said he would chop off
the hands of doctors if they neglected treatment of the poor, stated that he paid a
bribe to bring down the power bill, said upper caste people are foreigners, said
Maha Dalits are not able to look after their children properly or improve their
lifestyle, and that if they have to drink alcohol, [they] should take a little of it in the
form of medicine. His statement on upper castes was met with scathing criticism
from upper caste MLAs who called the Chief Minister mentally unstable. However,
as political observer Professor N.K. Chaudhury said, all these were ways of

05-12-2014 16:48

A masterstroke or a mistake? - The Hindu

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within the party

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/jitan-ram-manjhis-statements-s...

humiliating the Chief Minister and forcing him to resign on his own. But, as he
pointed out, Mr. Manjhi moved on while setting his eyes fixed on his constituency.

And to defy opinion that he is a rubber stamp Chief Minister, Mr. Manjhi took some tough administrative decisions.
He overhauled the top bureaucracy of Patna district after the Dussehra festival stampede and punished erring doctors
while promising to hit hard on those slacking in their duties.
But all these measures set alarm bells for Mr. Kumar who was ready to embark on his 17-day Sampark Yatra, a party
cadre contact tour. Mr. Kumar reportedly sent an SOS to party President Sharad Yadav and some other senior party
leaders to rein in Mr. Manjhi.
A liability?
Has Mr. Manjhi now become a political compulsion and liability for Mr. Kumar, at least till the Assembly polls next
year? The answer is yes. The Chief Minister knows that Mr. Kumar cannot take a shot at him unless he takes RJD
president Lalu Prasad into confidence. And for the beleaguered Mr. Prasad, no one is better suited as Chief Minister
than Mr. Manjhi.
Second, Mr. Manjhi also knows that by removing him, Mr. Kumar would lose Dalit votes and there would be a
conspicuous rift between lower and backward castes and upper caste leaders within the party.
Third, Mr. Kumar also doesnt have any other candidate to replace Mr. Manjhi. There are many aspirants for the post
and they come from different castes but any replacement would trigger an instant rebellion among the party legislators
something Mr. Kumar can hardly afford at this juncture. And above all, the opposition BJP which has been watching
hawk-eyed all the developments could also turn Mr. Manjhis replacement into an election issue.
Mr. Manjhi has definitely become a political problem for Mr. Kumar. How long will this last? Nobody knows for politics
is always a game of possibilities. But the situation is not doing Mr. Kumar or his party any good.
amaranth.tewary@thehindu.co.in
Keywords: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Maha Dalit community, caste politics, Bihar state
politics
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