Surprising comments by Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi embarrasses JD(U), Nitish Kumar

PATNA: For someone who was expected to do things quietly under the shadows of Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi continues to surprise everyone with his controversial public utterances. Manjhi's statements have embarrassed the ruling JD(U) leadership, especially Kumar who had handpicked him for the CM's job, ignoring the claims of other senior party leaders.

Sample one of Manjhi's comments: 'Nitish Kumar as chief minister did a fine job by expediting development, but at the same time, it cannot be denied that the ugly face of corruption also manifested itself in good measure.'

The CM's acknowledgement of corruption took the JD(U) leadership by surprise and raised many eyebrows. What's more, Manjhi said Kumar's son had to cough up 5,000 to an official to fix the power tariff bill of his residence in Gaya, giving the Oppsition enough ammunition to nail Kumar down. Manjhi's utterances dented the claims of the erstwhile Nitish Kumar government which had showed zero tolerance towards corruption.

'The CM should have checked the facts before going public. Nitishji had put in place Public Service Utility Act ensuring delivery of utility service within a stipulated period. The buildings of corrupt babus were confiscated to open schools for the socially-disadvantaged children. So, it didn't make sense when the CM made such statements,' a JD(U) functionary told ET . Manjhi's remark that his government did more development in one year than what was done in last 4 years also didn't go down well with JD(U) leaders. 'A statement like this made him look as if he is competing with Nitish Kumar on the development front,' admitted a JD(U) leader.

Again, the other day, Manjhi created a furore when he said that small traders indulging in black marketing should be condoned, but later retracted it by saying such cases should be considered sympathetically. He even urged the socially-disadvantaged section, especially the scheduled castes, to enhance their population for getting counted in the political arena.