Patna : Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday appeared to soften his ‘animosity’ towards his “mentor” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, as he said there was never any distance between them. Maintaining that “politics is a game of possibilities”, Manjhi said, “When Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, who had bitter relation with each other, can come together … I don’t have that kind of animosity towards Nitish Kumar.” Asked if the distance between him and Kumar has been bridged, Manjhi, who sat with the Bihar CM at an Iftar party hosted by RJD chief Lalu Prasad on July 1, parried the query, saying “when was there distance between me and Kumar?” and added “it was never (there)”. “Whatever I am today is because of Nitish Kumar, otherwise I would have remained an MLA and a minister. But it was the magnanimity of Nitish ji (who made me chief minister),” said Manjhi, who was accompanied by party’s national spokesman Danish Rizwan, reports PTI.
“I would have reckoned Kumar as God, had he not said that he made a mistake by making me the chief minister,” the former CM said, adding he would give the JDU chief utmost respect if he withdraws the statement.
Manjhi and Kumar had shared the dais at an Iftar party on Friday hosted by Lalu Prasad. The two had exchanged words and seemed comfortable talking to each other. It was for the first time the two came together at any public function ever since their relation soured after Manjhi, who had replaced Kumar as the Bihar chief minister, refused to make way for the JD(U) chief’s return as CM in 2015.
