(From left) Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi speaks at a programme organised to mark National Press Day in Patna on Sunday, Dal supporters garland Nitish Kumar during Sampark Yatra in Muzaffarpur and JDU national spokesperson KC Tyagi. Pictures by Ranjeet Kumar Dey and Lokesh Bihari

Patna, Nov. 16: The JDU today ruled out defending chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and his controversial statements, especially the remark about supporting Narendra Modi if his government accorded special status to Bihar.

“The party is extremely uncomfortable with the chief minister’s statements. When Manjhi was made the chief minister, he was given the mandate to carry out Nitish Kumar’s road map, not to rewrite history, which Manjhi wants to do,” JDU national general secretary K.C. Tyagi told The Telegraph.

On Saturday, during the inauguration of the Kanti thermal power plant, Manjhi had said he would support Prime Minister Modi if he accorded special category status to Bihar. The statement came barely a day after former chief minister Nitish Kumar vowed, during his Sampark Yatra, to oppose the BJP till “his last blood”.

Another indication of the state of ties between the parties became apparent today when Nitish said that the inauguration-cum-commercial production ceremony of the thermal power units in Muzaffarpur and Barh yesterday was hijacked by the “cut piece ministers” (read junior ministers) of the state in the NDA government at the Centre. Yet, he pledged to improve the overall power scenario in the state.

Ironically, what Manjhi said yesterday is not very different from what Nitish had said in 2009 while releasing a book on claims of special status by Bihar— that he would support the combination at the Centre that gives Bihar special status. Unfortunately for him, the UPA secured a majority on its own and did not need the JDU support to form a government that year.

“But the political situation in Bihar has changed drastically and the BJP, led by Modi, is now our enemy No. 1. Manjhi’s statement is deliberate. He has only repeated what Sushil Kumar Modi did when he took pot shots at the JDU by asking if Nitish would support Narendra Modi should the BJP government at the Centre accord special status to Bihar,” said a senior JDU leader.

Not surprisingly, Manjhi’s action is seen as a deviation from the JDU’s official stand. “We hold the view that giving special status to the state is not a mercy shown by the central government. We have been agitating on the issue for the past seven years. If the Centre decides to give special status it will be the output of our agitation,” Tyagi said.

In his ongoing Sampark Yatra, Nitish is harping on Prime Minister Modi’s “betrayal” to Bihar on the issue of giving it special status.

Manjhi has issued several controversial statements in quick succession. First, he said upper castes were foreigners. Then, he questioned the morality of women whose husbands work outside the state and now his statement about support to Narendra Modi if Bihar is given special status.

“Each time, it has left the party leadership red in the face and made a mockery of Nitish’s Sampark Yatra. There appears to be open defiance by Manjhi although the leadership has asked him to desist from making controversial statements,” said a JDU leader, pointing out that the party was spending more time denouncing Manjhi’s statements than attacking its main enemy.

Manjhi has stated on record that he would quit as chief minister the day Nitish asks him to do so. But the dilemma before the party is how it could remove Manjhi without angering the Mahadalits.

Manjhi has aggressively spoken on the issue of Dalits and their welfare. “He has carved out a support base among the Mahadalits, who form the party’s core support base. His removal might boomerang on the party,” conceded the JDU leader.

The party leadership is talking about action against its own chief minister. Party MLAs and leaders have been given the liberty to attack Manjhi and demand his removal. But the JDU is still weighing the pros and cons of taking such a step.