Continuing his tirade against the BJP and the Centre, former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is fighting a fierce battle with his protégé Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to replace him, blamed the Narendra Modi-led Government for the current political turmoil in Bihar and conspiracy to break JD(U).
“The BJP treats me as its enemy Number 1. The party has got a chance to damage JD(U) when a person (Manjhi) started showing his ambitions and the BJP started backing him,” said Nitish, adding that the BJP has been fully exposed. “The BJP will have to face serious consequences (in Assembly election) for what it is doing and what it plans to do in coming days,” he asserted.
Nitish admitted it happened with him many times when the people he had patronised and gave them high posts turned against him. “But none of them mounted vitriolic attack on me except this man (Manjhi). Don’t blame me for showing trust in them but blame the people who broke my confidence. This is not the first incident and I don’t know if it will be the last. I am now used to it. I feel sorry and hurt but call it my ill luck. If he (Manjhi) has an identity today it is because of me,” the JD(U) leader said.
But, he added, if anybody thinks he would get a higher position by maligning him he would not mind. “The simple formula to get closer to the BJP is to attack me. But I am where I was,” he said. Nitish said during his Sampark Yatra he had realised that the BJP, when sharing power with him, was least bothered about governance and concentrated on expanding party’s base while he was involved in governance and delivery and gave little time to the party.
He also accused the BJP of scripting conspiracy how to remove Assembly Speaker so that he could not preside over the House during Confidence Motion likely to be moved by Manjhi on February 20.
Meanwhile, three Mahadalit MlAs of JD(U) on Monday held a joint Press conference and accused Manjhi of defaming the dalit society. Calling him selfish, former Minister Shyam Rajak said the CM talks about self respect but what had happened to his self respect when the BJP leaders attacked him and his son and now the same party is backing himIJ “Manjhi has mortgaged his conscience to the BJP,” he said. Arun Manjhi said by including Paswan in the Mahadalit category, the CM has again marginalised the poorest and most backwards among the dalits as, he apprehended, all the benefits would be taken away by the Paswan.
Rajak said of the 17 Scheduled Caste MlAs of JD(U), 14 are in Nitish camp and only three, including Jitan Ram Manjhi, are in other camp. Of them, Jyoti Devi is samdhin (mother of Manjhi’s daughter-in-law) of Manjhi and Rameshwar Paswan is supporting Manjhi because of influence of Minister Narendra Singh.