Jitan Ram Manjhi May Have Been BJP's Spy: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said he suspected his former ally Hindustani Awam Morcha's chief Jitan Ram Manjhi of being a BJP's spy to extract information on Mahagathbandhan's moves. This is the reason why he pressured Manjhi to merge his party with JD(U) or leave the Mahagathbandhan, the JD(U)chief stated. Manjhi, he said, may have turned into a spy for BJP to know the plans of Mahagathbandhan especially the mega meeting of 17 opposition parties scheduled to be held in Patna on June 23.

"The HAM leader (Manjhi) was in touch with Amit Shah and other BJP leaders and he was waiting for the invitation to participate in the mega meeting of Opposition parties on June 23. Had he attended the meeting, all our strategies discussed during the meeting would have been leaked to the BJP.

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Hence, we strictly asked him either to merge his party or leave the Mahagathbandhan. He left us and we have also accepted the resignation of his son," Kumar said after the swearing-in ceremony of Ratnesh Sada as a cabinet minister.

"I was the one who made Jitan Ram Manjhi the chief minister of Bihar. Despite getting such a honourable post he was meeting BJP leaders. I knew about his activities and hence took a tough stand.

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"When Manjhi's son tendered his resignation from the cabinet, I accepted it and recommended it to the governor. The governor was not present on June 13 but he accepted it. We also named Ratnesh Sada as the new cabinet minister," Kumar said.

Ratnesh Sada is a third time MLA of the party and I have known him since long. So, I called him on the same day on June 13 and asked him to take over the new responsibility," Kumar said.