Peeved Manjhi embarrasses BJP, says he is a Naxalite
Patna,(BiharTimes): A couple of days after the Maoists pasted walls of Imamganj, his Assembly constituency, with the posters asking him to distance himself from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, said that he too is a Naxalite.
Talking to the media Manjhi put up a brave face and justified the Maoists’ action of imposing levies.
Be it out of panic or part of strategy Manjhi on Friday expressed open support for Maoists and declared that he too is a Maoist.
The Hindustani Awam Morcha leader strongly defended Maoists for picking up arms for their cause.
The Maoists’posters, which appeared on Wednesday, had questioned Manjhi’s silence over the incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims in the state ruled by the BJP.
Strangely, Manjhi blamed the local criminals and not the Maoists for the killing of 10 CRPF personnel on July 19 in Aurangabad district.
“In 1984 when I was a minister, there were allegation levelled against me that I was a supporter of Naxals. Time and again I have been saying, if to save the honor of women and daughters belonging to poor section of the society and to protect them from various kinds of atrocities, someone supports them and is called a Naxalite, then yes I am the first Naxalite,” he said.
Manjhi’s stand came as an embarrassment for the alliance partner BJP as instead of supporting the saffron outfit he went on to openly defend the Maoists’ action.
