Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's days numbered as JD(U), RJD plan his ouster

PATNA: The days of Jitan Ram Manjhi as Bihar CM seem numbered, with sources saying both JD(U) and RJD are working towards installing either Nitish Kumar or assembly speaker and another Mahadalit Uday Narain Chaudhury as CM, with Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharati as deputy CM.

JD(U) and RJD members said the plan to replace Manjhi could be put in place in a week from now, by January 16.

A day after Manjhi virtually declared his independence by saying that the next CM of Bihar should be a `Mahadalit' like him and replaced Nitish's favourite bureaucrats in crucial positions with his own nominees, the JD(U) brass made plain its disappointment with him.“We are not happy with Manjhi's statements. He should not be ungrateful,“ JD(U) general secretary told TOI.

Nitish quit as CM in what was seen as a desperate face saving manoeuvre after his rout at the hands of Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections. He chose Manjhi, a `Mahadalit', because he wanted to earn the support of the most depressed among the SCs and, more importantly , because of the calculation that the CM, a low-profile leader until then, would be pliant.

The script went haywire as his estimate proved horribly wrong. Manjhi soon started asserting himself by holding forth freely on many issues. What started as em barrassing volubility has now turned into a revolt of sorts with Manjhi develop ing his own constituency among `Mahadalits' by igniting their dormant political aspiration, by upturning Nitish's schemes and by being publicly at odds with the official stance of JD(U).

While JD(U) felt compell ed to persist with him because of the fear that dumping him will infuriate `Mahadalits' and raise questions about Nitish's professed affection for them, the patience appeared to have exhausted when Manjhi pushed the envelope too far by effecting a major bureaucratic reshuffle. The exercise saw several IAS officers considered close to Nitish Amir Subhani and Chanchal Kumar as well as IPS officer Kundan Krishna -being replaced by Dalit and tribal officers and consigned to insignificant positions.

More importantly , principal secretaries in departme nts held by ministers close to Nitish have also been changed with Manjhi, most crucially , imposing his choice Harjot Kaur on the road construction department which is helmed by Rajiv Ranjan Singh `Lallan', an influential politician who after a bitter and unseemly public feud with Nitish has reunited with the latter and will play a crucial role in the preparations for assembly elections.

As the JDU b brass readies its plan to get rid of him, there are indications that Manjhi may not go without putting up a fight. He has provided comfort to JD(U) seniors who felt suffocated under Nitish and given MLAs and party workers a huge say in administration matters.

While it is difficult to verify the claim increasingly made by Nitish's detractors that Manjhi, with a solid group of 30 MLAs aligned with him may be game for any BJP plot to prop up a government of JD(U) rebels if he is jettisoned, the CM has given ample hints that he will paint his removal as a conspiracy against `Mahadalits'.