Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi garlands a picture of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar during Mahadalit Samaroh at a ground in Rupaspur on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Patna, Sept. 7: Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today threatened to do an Arvind Kejriwal by staging a dharna in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in New Delhi if the Centre failed to provide adequate funds to the state to construct multi-storeyed buildings for Dalits in urban areas.

Speaking at the Mahadalit Samaroh organised by the Dalit Adhikar Manch in Khagaul, Manjhi said he had ordered the construction of multi-storeyed buildings for Dalits in urban areas where land is not available. “I know the officials will say there is no money. I shall ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi for funds to build these houses. If the help does not come, I shall sit in front of the Prime Minister’s residence,” he said in the presence of Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary and a couple of other ministers.

Manjhi’s threat to stage a dharna in front Modi’s residence took everybody present at the event by surprise. A senior JDU leader recalled the flak Kejriwal drew for staging a dharna in New Delhi before Republic Day. He was the chief minister of Delhi then.

Another JDU leader said: “Manjhi is becoming an ‘unguided missile’. He issues statements that can hit the Opposition as well as his own party.”

The Manjhi supporters claimed that the chief minister deliberately said that he would stage a dharna in Delhi. “He said it because he wants to emerge as the leader of the Mahadalits,” one among them said.

Incidentally, the idea of constructing multi-storeyed buildings to house the Dalits living in urban slums is not new. In the early 1990s, Lalu Prasad had built multi-storeyed apartments for Dalits living in slums in Patna. But the scheme could not be replicated in other urban areas because of lack of funds.

Manjhi’s threat to demonstrate in Delhi came a day after the BJP leader, Sushil Kumar Modi, urged the Bihar government to avoid confrontation with the Centre citing the chief minister’s absence in the programme organised to launch the Prime Minister’s ambitious “Jan Dhan Yojana”. The nonchalant chief minister also accused the Centre of depriving Bihar of funds.

Manjhi played the Dalit card to the hilt when he pointed out that he headed the executive wing of the state government, while Speaker Chaudhary headed the legislative in Bihar — both hailing from the Mahadalit community.

Offer for allies

Manjhi also spoke in favour of the idea of RJD and Congress joining the JDU government, saying leaders of the three parties would take a call in this regard. “What is wrong if the RJD and Congress join my government?” he asked.