Nitish’s ‘murkhta’ fireworks give Manjhi, BJP ammo in bid to dent his Mahadalit vote bank

A former ally of the Nitish-led Mahagathbandhan government, Manjhi has now switched to the BJP-led NDA camp.

Stunned by Nitish’s outburst on the floor of the House, Manjhi could just tell him: “Yeh aap theek nahin kar rahe hain (this is not the right thing you are doing)”. But the Dalit Mushahar leader perhaps knew then that his silence would later sound eloquent.

Manjhi hit back at Nitish right after coming out of the House. The BJP rallied round him. The NDA allies also met at Manjhi’s residence to work out their strategy over the row which erupted barely a day after Nitish was forced to apologise with folded hands for his crude remarks on educated women and family planning.

Manjhi has since been using Nitish’s tirade against him as an opportunity to dent Nitish’s carefully-cultivated constituency of Mahadalits – an umbrella group of various Scheduled Castes (SCs) except the Paswan community – in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Manjhi has been accusing Nitish of “insulting a Mushahar CM”. Among the most backward communities on various socio-economic parameters, Mushahars and Doms are considered part of the Mahadalit grouping.

“Had Nitish Kumar done me any favour by making me CM in 2014 ?” asked Manjhi while speaking to reporters on November 14. “In fact, he (Nitish) had been looking to further consolidate his Mahadalit constituency by using me a symbol of Dalit empowerment. But when I tried to take my own decisions as CM, Nitish took power from me and became CM again. This was nothing but an insult to all SCs. His diatribe against me only proved that I was made a place holder CM.”

Seizing on the day that marked Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary, Manjhi also advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to be “cautious” vis-a-vis Nitish, indicating that the latter still harboured the dream of becoming the PM.

He went on to allege that the CM had “lost his mental balance”. Last Friday, he had even claimed that “poisonous substances” were being mixed into Nitish’s food by his associates “coveting his chair”.

Referring to Nitish’s pitch to media against giving him “undue publicity”, the HAM (S) chief, who also held a sit-in protest in front of B R Ambedkar’s statue, said: “Now, it is entirely up to you (media) to decide if my voice should be heard or not. I will not keep quiet and take my fight to Delhi. I will sit on dharna at Rajghat. I will not let go insult of all Dalits.”

Manjhi reiterated that he was senior to Nitish in age (Manjhi, 79, is seven years older than Nitish) and experience (Manjhi was first elected as the MLA in 1980, five years before Nitish became a legislator).

A HAM (S) leader said: “Nitish Kumar has in fact revived our politics. We will keep playing Dalit insult by Nitish in coming Lok Sabha elections too. Now, PM Narendra Modi has also taken up the matter. By insulting Manjhi, Nitish may well have committed a major political blunder.”

He was referring to Modi’s recent remarks made during an address to a rally in poll-bound Telangana, in which the PM had called the Opposition INDIA bloc “anti-Dalit”, citing Nitish’s salvos against Manjhi.

The JD (U), which had initially adopted a strategy of not reacting to Manjhi’s remarks, has now fielded its Dalit ministers to counter him. Building construction minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary said: “What the CM said in Assembly was true. Had Manjhi ever dreamt of becoming CM? Manjhi had himself acknowledged that Nitish Kumar had made him CM”.

Another JD(U) Dalit minister Ratnesh Sada, who also like Manjhi belongs to the Mushahar community, said: “Can Manjhi tell us what he has done for fellow Mushahars? He has benefited only his family. Manjhi should not be under the illusion of being even a leader of Mushahars.”

Dalits, which account for 19.65% of Bihar’s population, are considered to be a constituency of floating voters. A significant chunk of Dalit voters has been supporting Nitish for the past several elections, which the BJP has been trying to wean away from him, using Manjhi in this bid now. That the LJP (Ramvilas Paswan) is also an NDA ally may reinforce the BJP’s campaign, which could also see an enhancement in Manjhi’s bargaining power.

Manjhi was with the JD(U) in May 2014 when Nitish nominated him as the CM after stepping down owning responsibility for his party’s drubbing in the 2014 parliamentary polls. Nitish however returned to take charge as the CM in February 2015 ahead of the Assembly polls that he then fought successfully with the Lalu Prasad-led RJD.