By publicly revealing the trust deficit with some of his Ministers, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is yet again in the centre of controversy and the JD(U) leaders who wish to see him out are again striking at the beleaguered Dalit leader. After Manjhi confessed that he was not satisfied with the functioning of some of his Ministers and even named road construction department Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh lalan, a known confident of former CM Nitish Kumar, the daggers are again drawn. The CM said he was not satisfied with the working of the department and hence transferred its secretary. Asked if he would like to sack the Minister of the department, he shot back, “I would not need to seek permission of the media.”
Bihar JD(U) president Bashistha Narain Singh, who is also not happy with the ways of Manjhi and feels uneasy over the CM’s controversial statements, advised Manjhi to maintain cordial relations with his Ministers. “Since he is running the Government it is his duty to take initiative to bridge the gap between him and some of his Ministers. The party is facing problems over some statements of the CM and he has been advised restrain. I also appeal to other leaders to maintain restrain before speaking publicly,” said Singh on Tuesday. JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav is arriving here on Wednesday.
The ruling party which is clearly divided in two camps is also not comfortable with BJP leaders heaping praise on Manjhi while mounting vitriolic barbs on Nitish. On Monday Union Minister of Water Resources Uma Bharti praised Manjhi and called him ‘Messiah of poor’ and earlier some other Union Ministers like Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh were also all praise for Manjhi. BJP president Amit Shah, when visited Bihar last week pointedly attacked Nitish and RJD chief lalu Prasad but did not utter a single word against Manjhi.
“The praise of Manjhi by the BJP leaders is sheer politics,” said State JD(U) president and even suspected that it was being done with a motive to create a wedge between Manjhi and other JD(U) leaders. Industries Minister Bheem Singh, who is a Manjhi supporter, too suspected politics behind the Manjhi’s praise by the BJP leaders.
Senior BJP leader and former deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has been saying time and again that Manjhi would be replaced by Nitish very soon. On Tuesday Modi said, "There is strong possibility that by February 15 Manjhi will be eased out and the JD(U) will bring back Nitish. All the formalities have been completed for the change." Modi said, "Nitish is sitting with kerosene oil and matches for Manjhi. The poor CM should show some courage and recommend dissolution of the Assembly if attempts are made to remove him unceremoniously."