Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday said he was ready to talk with the Maoists and wanted them to shun violence and join the national mainstream. Manjhi indirectly favoured the extortion by the Red extremists from the contractors and engineers engaged in Government-sponsored developmental projects in the countryside.
Manjhi said the poor people, who have joined Naxalism because of socio-economic reasons, have some genuine grievances and Government should look into it in order to bring them to mainstream.
“I feel they are not absolutely wrong and I am ready to invite them for parleys if a proposal comes from them. The Naxal problem cannot be solved only with the gun,” said Manjhi, who also confessed that he had missed the chance to meet some Maoists and heard their grievances.
Asked how he can meet the Naxalites as he was a Minister, Manjhi shot back, “Naxalites are not foreigners. They are poor people and it is our duty to bring them on the right track. They have some issues and when they raise their problems they should not be ignored.”
Naxalism has been a major problem in Bihar and almost 30 out of 38 districts in the State were influenced by Maoist menace. In central Bihar districts, they had even declared certain areas as “liberated zones”.
Incidentally, Manjhi also hails from Maoist-infested Gaya district and the extremist cadres mainly comprise Mahadalits particularly Musahar.
He said this problem could be solved only through development. Giving credit to former CM Nitish Kumar, he said, “I am pursuing the policy crafted by supreme leader to accelerate developmental works in Naxal-hit areas. If poor people are provided jobs and poverty alleviation schemes are implemented honestly, poor people would not be attracted towards Naxalism.”
Recalling his earlier meetings with some Naxalites, the CM said they told him that contractors and engineers involved in developmental projects have nexus with officials and were plundering the public money.
“I also agree to some extent with their views that this nexus is involved in embezzlement of funds and escalation of costs. I feel they are right and there is urgent need of reforms. Sometimes the contractors and engineers unnecessarily blame Maoists for attack on them and burning of machines only to make profit,” he said.
Manjhi, who has a habit of issuing controversial statements and later on taking U-turn, clarified his Sunday statement at Munger that his Cabinet colleagues were not cooperating with him. Blaming media for distorting his statement, Manjhi said he did not say that his Ministers were not cooperating. However, he added, “There are a few Ministers who contradict my views at Cabinet meetings and suggest me to have a deeper thinking before taking a decision. A decision is always taken with consensus. There had been occasions when I wanted some issues to be approved immediately but they deferred. Some issues have been referred to different institutions for further study.”
The Chief Minister also denied differences with party leaders and said when Nitish handed over him the reins of the Government had declared that he would look after the work of strengthening the party. “So he is looking after the party work and I am engaged with governance and administration. Nitish is the captain of our team and on his instruction, I am batting. I will continue batting till I am out. Once I am out the captain will send some other player,” he added.