Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has reignited a controversy by questioning the authenticity of Ramcharitmanas and Ramayana, which have been the subject of criticism by several parties from UP and Bihar like Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ท๐ต๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ, ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐
In a statement that could rake up another political controversy, Manjhi has called lord Ram and Ramayan as "imaginary".
"Whether these people (BJP) talk about Ram or Ravanโฆwe consider them all imaginary. Its all based on imagination and not factual. We should talk about the poor. There should be the talk of eradicating poverty. If the story is to be told, Ravan was more hardworking than Ram. But, it is all imaginary. We do not believe in all this," the former Bihar CM told reporters outside the legislative assembly in capital Patna.
๐ก๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐: ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ท๐ต๐ถ
He expressed doubts about the works of renowned poets, Valmiki and Goswami Tulasidas, and suggested that certain inaccuracies in the Ramayan and Ramcharitmanas need to be corrected.
Manjhi made the statement in the aftermath of BJP lawmakers reciting Hanuman Chalisa in the state assembly house on the first day of budget session.
JD(U) MLA Jama Khan, attacking the BJP, said religious texts should be read at home and it's not okay to do all that in the Assembly House. He said that BJP was intentionally doing all this to create unnecessary controversy.
