A day after former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party spokesperson accused security personnel deputed at Mr. Manjhi’s residence of not allowing them to pluck mango, litchi and other fruits, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said these were all “petty issues,” while Mr. Manjhi accused him of having a “petty mindset.”
Even after his replacement, Mr. Manjhi continues to live at 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of the Chief Minister. “Where shall I go? The residence designated for former CM is being occupied by Nitish Kumar. When he will vacate that for me I’ll also vacate this within a day for him,” said Mr. Manjhi.
Meanwhile, the luscious mangoes, litchis and jackfruits dotting the sprawling premises have turned sour for both Mr. Manjhi and Mr. Kumar.
‘Gardener suspended’“A week ago one of my gardeners was suspended just because he plucked some litchi fruits for the family members ... it is petty to prohibit a Mahadalit from tasting the fruits of his own garden,” Mr. Manjhi charged on Thursday.
Even Lalu Prasad who lived in the bungalow for 4-5 months after the RJD lost power to the JD(U) in 2005 was not prohibited from plucking fruits from the campus, said Mr. Manjhi.
Earlier, a spokesperson of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, recently launched by Mr. Manjhi, claimed that the Nitish government had deputed altogether 24 policemen, including 8 sub-inspectors and 16 constables with direction to not allow people even to pick the fruit that has fallen on the ground.
Asked about this, Mr. Kumar feigned ignorance about any such order from the government.
“I enquired about it from the State police chief and he also has no knowledge about this … these are just petty issues and I would like to say that when I care for aam awam [common people], some only think about aam [mango],” said Mr. Kumar.
“Now, I will ask them to enjoy all the fruits on the premises and I will pay for them from my own pocket,” he said.
BJP’s chargeMeanwhile, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain took a dig at the fruit row between the former and incumbent Chief Ministers.
“Nitish Kumar is losing weight worrying more about aam [mangoes] than the aam aadmi [the common man],” he charged.
