Jitam Ram Manjhi

Patna, Nov. 13: Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s “upper castes are foreigners” comment drew more ire from insiders than from the BJP.

A visibly upset former chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is undertaking his Sampark Yatra, refused to comment. “Let me do my job,” he told reporters who sought his reaction.

The attack came from a usually media-shy strongman-turned-politician, JDU’s Mokama MLA Anant Singh who called the Bihar chief minister “mad” and demanded his removal. Even Nitish’s close confidant Sanjay Jha criticised the chief minister.

While Nitish was busy addressing party workers on the first day of his Sampark Yatra in Bettiah, 210km northwest of Patna, Mokama MLA Anant said: “We have made the biggest mistake by making this person the chief minister. He has lost his mental balance and become mad. He should be sent to Kanke mental asylum in Ranchi.”

Addressing a gathering of Tharu tribals in Valmikinagar on Tuesday, Manjhi had said that upper castes are descendents of Aryans who came from abroad and thus foreigners; tribals were the original inhabitants.

“He does not think before opening his mouth. He does not deserve to be chief minister and should immediately resign. I have requested Nitishji to sack him,” said an angry Anant.

Manjhi, who is famous for going back on his words, stuck to the upper caste-foreigner theory. “What I have said is correct. Dalits, Mahadalits, tribals and people from extremely backward classes are the original inhabitants of this place, but that does not mean other people are our enemies,” Manjhi said after attending the foundation day of Bihar State Building Construction Corporation Ltd at Adhiveshan Bhavan this afternoon.

Just last month, Manjhi created uproar in Motihari and drew flak from doctors over his comment that their “hands would be chopped off” if they didn’t work and discharge their duty honestly. But when doctors sought and apology and threatened a state-wide strike, Manjhi issued a statement to say he had used the words to mean clipping of their wings and not chopping of their hands, seeking refuge in idioms.

Earlier, no JDU leader had either come to Manjhi’s support or criticised him.

Sanjay Jha, another JDU leader and close confidante of former chief minister Nitish Kumar, condemned Manjhi’s statement saying it was highly objectionable. He also demanded the party leadership to take action against him.