By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Though the outgoing Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi earned political martyrdom, yet it is debatable who inflicted more wounds on him. True, the last bullet was fired by his mentor-turned-tormentor Nitish Kumar, the injuries caused to him by the BJP in the first seven months of his nine-month regime proved no less fatal.
It is another thing that the saffron party later realized that there is some merit in championing his cause and tried to put some balm on his hurt feeling.
Jitan Ram Manjhi (Courtesy: cloudfront.net)
Senior state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi or SuMo suddenly traced in him the quality of a great Dalit crusader; though only two months earlier, he had publicly demanded his arrest and prosecution for violating the established rules.
But that was not just one such diatribe launched against him. Along with Nitish Kumar, the Dalit CM was accused of heading ‘Jungle Raj-2’. The BJP always calls the Lalu-Rabri era as the Jungle Raj. It is another thing that Rabri Devi was always proud of Jungle Raj as, according to her, a lion rules in forest, where there is more peace than the civilized world. What she would leave for others to interpret is that her husband is a lion.
The irony of Bihar politics is that those who were at the helm of affairs during the ‘Jungle Raj-1’ are now the best friends of Nitish Kumar; and the man who headed the ‘Jungle Rj-2’ is now comrade-in-arms of the BJP. Perhaps people’s memory is not so short as to forget Manjhi’s great remark that he would die, rather than, join hands with the BJP.
Manjhi refused to play Paneer Selvam, the twice-born CM of Jayalalithaa’s Tamil Nadu. He did it with a purpose. He knew that his political career would end after the November 2015 assembly election. Even if the Janata Dal (United) wins, as per the understanding made at the time of his nomination as the CM in May last, Nitish Kumar would return to power. Manjhi may have to return to the much minor role in the next cabinet or just retire from politics on the condition that any other member of his family is suitably accommodated.
In contrast, Manjhi saw a much brighter prospect in the BJP. So any benefit caused to it may bring much bigger dividend as it is in power at the Centre. A Rajya Sabha ticket, berth in the Union cabinet, post of Governor etc. cannot entirely be ruled out. After all, less significant players from the state have got into the Narendra Modi cabinet.
Manjhji was aware of 16 % Dalit vote bank in the state. He knows that he cannot be the leader of the Scheduled Castes, which is divided into 22 much marginalized sub-castes. But the outgoing Chief Minister was quite confident that if he cannot benefit the BJP by his pro-Dalit antics, he can at least jeopardise the prospect of the Janata Dal (United). That would be enough to damage it as the present ruling party of Bihar has been trying its level best to regain its foot-hold on this section of the society after the last year’s Lok Sabha election. It was with this objective that, of all the Dalits, Nitish hand-picked Manjhi, who comes from the weakest of the Dalit castes called Mushahars or the rat-eaters.
Some would argue that Manjhi has become a lotus-eater and is expecting too much from the BJP. There is always a latent fear that he may fall between two stools, as much depends on the outcome of the Assembly election. If he proves to be an asset, he may be rewarded, if not, he may lose the gamble.
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(Soroor Ahmed is a Patna-based freelance journalist. He writes on political, social, national and international issues.)