A day after JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar accused the BJP-led central government of “writing Bihar script and giving license for horse-trading”, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said he was “poor and fakir” and cannot afford horse-trading. “Why is Nitish Kumar afraid of me? I am poor and fakir and cannot afford horse-trading. I will surely deliver an emotional speech during the floor test,” Manjhi told reporters on Friday. He added that the Nitish camp that had been pressuring his MLAs, saying if they “wanted tickets or not”. The Bihar CM further said Nitish loyalists had embarked on a door-to-door of MLAs to bring them to their side. While the governor has asked the Speaker to look into the options of lobby division method or secret ballot during the floor test, Manjhi said he would request the governor for the secret ballot method. [related-post] In lobby division, almost a defunct practice now, MLAs are taken in a lobby and asked If they would vote for or against the motion. On Nitish Kumar’s confession that he committed a mistake by making the dalit leader CM, Manjhi said:”It is not a mistake but a blunder. He had thought me to be a mediocre. Had he known that I would turn out to be a capable CM, he would have never made me CM”. Manjhi said just when he was trying to come out of Nitish Kumar’s shadows and had started doing real work, his chair was threatened. Recounting his recent radical decisions, Manjhi said he faced resistance for trying to dilute the mandatory 75 per cent attendance for students to avail scholarship benefits. “Now, I have changed it to 55 per cent attendance so that children of the poor can avail it. I have also introduced reservation in government contracts for SC/ST communities and plan to extend it to other sections in a phased manner,” said the Chief Minister. Manjhi also clarified his Thursday’s statement of “accepting cuts” from bridge contracts. “I had meant to suggest that such commission would go to top level. Who is at the top level? It has been happening before. I spoke symbolically,” said Manjhi, who now faces a complaint at Gandhi Maidan police station for his controversial remarks. “Garib par to FIR hote hi rahta hai (the poor face cases anyway),” said the CM adding that he would go into the trust vote like a “wrestler”, unmindful of his victory or loss.
