Patna, Sep 10 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will soon take lessons in Urdu and may hire a teacher for the purpose.

"I will try to learn Urdu. If there is a need to hire a teacher, I will do so," he said at a function here Wednesday.

He said he decided to learn Urdu as it saddened him that he did not know the second official language of Bihar after Hindi.

"I am sad that I did not learn Urdu which is a sweet and beautiful language and also the second official language of Bihar after Hindi," he said.

The 68-year-old chief minister is the third Dalit to become the chief minister of Bihar after Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das.

Manjhi is from the Mushahar community, the poorest of poor. His father Ramjeet Ram Manjhi was a landless labourer.