Realising that he may not be able to prove majority in the Assembly on February 20, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday went all out to shower sops on different sections of society in an apparent effort to muster support.
In the latest decisions taken by his Cabinet and having financial and administrative implications, the Manjhi Government approved a proposal to include two Dalit castes, Dhari and Darahi —which are sub-castes of Dusadh or Paswan and have substantial population — in the Mahadalit category. His predecessor Nitish Kumar, who had categorised 22 Dalit castes as Mahadalit, had left Paswan’s caste out of the list. Manjhi had earlier declared that he would erase the line dividing the Scheduled Castes.
In other decisions, the Bihar Cabinet passed a proposal to grant Rs5,000 monthly pension to retired journalists and Rs2,500 pension to the families of the deceased mediapersons. The Cabinet also approved annual grant of Rs2 crore to Bihar Urdu Academy.
It also gave green signal to a proposal to rename Darbhanga Engineering & Technical College after former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, the actual political mentor of Manjhi.
With these decisions, the beleaguered Chief Minister has tried to win over the two Dalit castes, Muslims, and the media. Earlier on Tuesday, the Manjhi Government had approved reservation for the SC and ST contractors in construction works.
It also announced reservation in Government jobs for the economically weaker sections among the upper castes, for which a three-member committee was formed to study the proposal and give its recommendations. The Cabinet also decided that SC/ST schoolchildren will be entitled to uniforms and bicycles, even if they have 55 per cent attendance.
Enraged over these decisions by a “minority Government”, the pro-Nitish Kumar legislators on Saturday submitted a memorandum to Raj Bhavan urging the Governor to restrain Manjhi from making decisions since the Government has no legal authority to take major decisions.
Manjhi is leaving for Delhi on Sunday, presumably to attend the wedding reception of BJP president Amit Shah’s son. The Chief Minister on Saturday claimed that he has won the heart of PM Narendra Modi.
The BJP, which is still indecisive over support to Manjhi in the Assembly during the floor test, declared that it would decide its stand on February 18 at the BJP legislature Party meeting.
leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav, who apprehends threat to his position from the JD(U), said if Assembly Speaker recognises JD(U) as main Opposition party, the BJP will move the court. Yadav on Saturday said, “This is unprecedented in the parliamentary democracy that the same party which is in power claims the main Opposition slot.”
JD(U) State president Bashistha Narain Singh on Friday had announced that he approached Assembly Speaker to recognise JD(U) as main Opposition party on the basis of the strength and recognise its leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary as leader of Opposition. Chaudhary said, “The BJP is free to move the court. We have staked claim that leaders of our party be recognised as leader of Opposition in both the Houses.”
Constantly showing their support to Nitish Kumar, RJD and Congress leaders accused Manjhi of sticking to the chair with the tacit support of the BJP. RJD legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui said since Manjhi has been expelled by his party and now he is unattached member of Assembly, he should have revealed which party and how many legislators are supporting him. “The BJP has not declared its support to him and the party is indulging in horse trading,” he alleged.