Nitish Kumar chose Jitan Ram Manjhi to safeguard his 'kharao': Sushil Kumar Modi

PATNA: BJP today described Jitan Ram Manjhi, handpicked by Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of Bihar, as "kathputli" (puppet) and urged the Governor to individual parade of the MLAs to get "convinced" of Manjhi's nomination for the post.

"Jitan Ram Manjhi is a 'kathputli' Chief Minister of Nitish Kumar," former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told PTI. "He is being used as Bharat of the epic Ramayana to safeguard the 'kharao' (pair wooden sandals) of Ram (Nitish Kumar)," he said.

Modi said earlier Kumar had said that JD(U) would go to the Assembly polls next year under his leadership and he will only become Chief Minister if his party secures the mandate, which means Kumar has decided to use the Mahadalit (a sub section among the Dalits) to safeguard his 'kharao' till then."

"This is affront to the Mahadalit," he added. Modi said though it was an internal matter of the JD(U) about its choice of legislature party leader and the next Chief Minister, Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhary and senior minister Ramai Ram - the two senior most leaders hailing from Dalit community - have been ignored.

He said the name of the new Chief Minister should have been ratified by the JD(U) MLAs before going to the Governor. "Hence, we demand the Governor should insist on the parade of individual JD(U) MLAs to get convinced that Manjhi is the real choice of the party," the senior BJP leader said.