Updated: October 14, 2020 12:44:50 pm
Jitan Ram Manjhi returns to compete from Imamganj, against the two-time president of Bihar and candidate of the RJD, Uday Narayan Choudhary.
In May 2014, Jitaan Rm Manjhi had been Nitish Kumar’s surprise choice as prime minister, a choice dictated both by the 70-year-old man’s last name and the fact that he kept a low profile and was expected to keep the seat warm. for the JD (U) leader who had resigned in anger after a massive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections that year. It marked a great moment for Manjhi’s Mushahar community, among the lowest in the caste hierarchy and about 2% of the state’s voters. It was also only the third time that a programmed caste leader had become the Bihar CM, despite the caste turmoil that arose from his fertile politics. The others were Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sunder Das.
Nitish was seen to have withheld EBC and Scheduled Caste votes in the 2014 polls, in addition to his main constituency of OBC Koeris and Kurmis. Manjhi was a gamble to get the Mahadalit to back him as well.
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However, Nitish, who was sincere in his confession to this reporter at the time that he had “chosen Manjhi for the CM position because he was not a leader”, had been surprised. Just two months later, Manjhi had shown that he was far from satisfied in the shadow of the JD (U) leader, so much so that Nitish had returned as CM in February 2015, a few months before the Assembly elections. Manjhi, in turn, had split up and created his own party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S), and joined the BJP-led NDA. Nitish fought those polls aligned with the RJD and Congress.
The 2015 results had proven to be a failure for Manjhi, getting him just one seat and ensuring that he had almost no bargaining power with the BJP. Then Manji had addressed the Grand Alliance, although Modi’s sweep in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls ensured that the NDA had left little for anything else.
Now, with the NDA still in power, Manji has used the JD (U) channels to return to the alliance. JD (U) has given HAM-S seven seats out of 122. Manjhi himself is competing again from Imamganj, against the two-time Bihar president and RJD candidate Uday Narayan Choudhary.
Born in the small town of Mahkar in Gaya’s Khijrasarai, Manjhi became involved in politics early, with his brother, who was in the Bihar Police, supporting him financially. He became a Congressional MLA in 1980 and a minister in 1985. When the fortunes of Congress declined with the rise of Lalu Prasad, he joined the Janata Dal and later the RJD. In 2015, Manjhi became a minister in Nitish Kumar’s government, but went unnoticed until the supreme JD (U) released that surprise.
Despite his history, Nitish realizes the need for the support of the Dalits that Manjhi represents. After Shyam Rajak left JD (U) to return to RJD, Nitish is left with only a few scheduled caste leaders, such as JD (U) Bihar Acting President Ashok Kumar Choudhary and Maheshwar Hajari. Even the NDA is left with few Dalit leaders after the LJP withdrew.
Manjhi personally has also wandered far from that little house in Mahkar. The only two-story pucca house in town belongs to him. His son Santosh Kumar Suman is an MLC.
However, with that influence that has not translated into election seats so far, this may be a battle for Manjhi’s survival. Dalits, who comprise 16% of Bihar’s voters, are looking for a leader who will unite them. HAM-S is expected to exert the greatest influence in Gaya, Jehanabad and some points in Purnia, Khagaria. If Manjhi wins even three or four seats, it will keep counting.
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