Jitan Ram Manjhi

Patna, Sept. 29: Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today ordered a probe into the cleansing of a Madhubani temple after the Dalit leader prayed there, while the priest and residents denied the allegations.

Yesterday, at a function to mark the birth anniversary of Bhola Paswan Shashtri, Manjhi alleged that the Parmeshwaristhan temple in Andhrathari block, around 160km north of Patna, was washed after he left.

The priest and residents denied the allegations. Some colleagues of the chief minister also denied the possibility of any such cleansing.

Ashok Jha, the priest of the Parmeshwaristhan temple, said: “I chanted mantras, assisting the chief minister in offering prayers to the goddess. I offered him prasad (offering) and also presented him with a book, Vedbhoomi mein Mithila Sanskrit Darshan, which he happily accepted. No cleansing was done at the temple after his departure.”

Manjhi had offered prayers at the temple in the Mithila region, dedicated to Goddess Durga, on August 18 when he had gone to campaign for the JDU candidate fielded from Rajnagar Assembly seat.

Manjhi’s allegations have found no takers though.

Residents of Andhrathari denied that their temple was cleansed after the chief minister’s prayers. “Nothing of such sort happened here. We are surprised at the chief minister’s allegation,” the mukhiya of Andhrathari, Hemlata Sajjan, said.

Rural development minister Nitish Mishra, who hails from the Mithila region, also denied the deity was cleansed after the chief minister’s visit. “The deity is made of earth that is never washed,” he said.

The chief minister is not one to budge though.

If yesterday he claimed mines and geology minister Ram Lakhan Ram Raman told him of the cleansing of the temple, today, the chief minister quoted former Jhanjharpur MP Devendra Yadav.

Although Raman later told The Telegraph he could not recall any such incident and perhaps the chief minister made a mix-up, Devendra today told reporters in New Delhi that he had information of the temple being cleansed after Manjhi prayed at the shrine.

On his temple-cleansing allegation being denied by the locals and a section of his cabinet colleagues, Manjhi said: “I have asked the commissioner and inspector-general, Darbhanga range, to investigate into the issue and furnish their reports.”

Sticking to his guns, he added: “I have never lied in my whole life. Let the probe be carried out. The truth will come out before all of us soon”.

State JDU president Bashishtha Narayan Singh said: “Since the chief minister has asked for a probe, let us wait for the inquiry report. We will try to find the truth through our party apparatus too.”

In Delhi, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan — a Dalit like Manjhi — told PTI: “Untouchability is a crime in the country. What can be more shameful when a chief minister says the temple was cleaned up after his visit.”