Patna: Prime Minister Nitish Kumar’s physique language adjustments with the change of alliance companions – he’s “cool and relaxed” when he’s a part of the Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA), and “tense” within the mahagatbandhannewly inaugurated Bihar Chief Minister Santosh Kumar Suman advised ThePrint.
“I’ve been working with Nitish since 2020ji as a minister in each the NDA authorities and mahagathbandhan authorities,” Suman, a Dalit chief who resigned from the previous Nitish authorities in June final yr, mentioned in an interview.
President of NDA constituent Hindustani Awam Morcha and son of former CM Jitan Ram Majhi, Suman was among the many eight ministers sworn into the brand new Nitish cupboard on Sunday. That is the third time in 4 years that he has been sworn into the Bihar cupboard.
“Nitishji appeared cool and relaxed in the course of the NDA interval. However in the course of the mahagathbandhan authorities, I’ve seen his physique language change,” he mentioned. “He all the time regarded tense. He was all the time below stress, both by administrative selections or by the stress to rescue undesirable individuals.”
![Bihar Chief Minister Santosh Kumar Suman at his residence | Photo: Praveen Jain | The print](https://static.theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Untitled-design-3-5.png)
The mahagathabandhan The federal government, which fell earlier this week, beforehand consisted of the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and Nitish Kumar’s Left Entrance. Earlier this week, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) broke away from the alliance and returned to the BJP-led Nationwide Democratic Alliance lower than two years after dumping it.
Suman’s Hindustani Awam Morcha, a celebration based by his father Jitan Ram Manjhi, was additionally a member of the mahagathabandhan and is presently a part of the NDA. Jatin Ram Manjhi is taken into account an in depth confidant of Nitish and was expelled from the JD(U) in 2015 when he refused to surrender his chief minister’s place to make manner for Nitish.
In the present day, the Hindustani Awam Morcha, shaped quickly after Manjhi’s expulsion, has 4 MLAs within the 243-member Bihar meeting.
“Even once we have been within the mahagathbandhan authorities, my father Nitish used to adviseji to interrupt ties with RJD and say that such an alliance was hurting the sections that supported him. After we left the federal government final yr, I mentioned this authorities wouldn’t final,” Suman mentioned.
Had RJD supremo Lalu Yadav provided him the deputy CM’s place earlier this month in a bid to kind a authorities with out Nitish? “Not Lalu ji instantly,” Suman mentioned. “However there have been individuals from his surroundings who approached me with the provide to speak to Laluji and return. I advised them that we’re firmly behind BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
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‘We by no means hesitate to talk the reality’
Suman, a Musahar chief, was minister of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare when he resigned in June. In response to the Bihar authorities’s caste survey performed final yr, Musahars represent 3 % of the state’s inhabitants.
Nonetheless, Suman claims that there’s an error within the survey.
“Greater than 30 % of the Mushar inhabitants has left Bihar and settled exterior the state,” he mentioned. “They (the federal government) individually performed a separate survey of a caste group, which, for all sensible functions, can be Musahar. I’ll ask for a correction,” he mentioned.
Suman, who has a PhD in political science from Magadh College of Biharmentioned he was an lively member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – the coed wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – though his father was a former Congressman turned socialist chief.
“My father is my function mannequin. The son of slave laborers, he himself received an schooling, resigned from the federal government job and rose to the submit of Bihar CM. When he was eliminated in 2015, the Hindustani Awam Morcha was born by chance and I assumed I ought to assist my father,” he mentioned.
Does his father Jitan Ram Manhji have a rocky relationship with Nitish? That, Suman says, is a false impression, earlier than shortly including, “However we (the Hindustani Awam Morcha) by no means hesitate to talk the reality.”
The present authorities, he mentioned, will full its time period.
“Folks make errors. Nitish ji realized that he had made a mistake by becoming a member of arms with the RJD. He will not be going wherever now. I see a brilliant future for Bihar, the place growth would be the focus.” he mentioned, including that he needs to contest the 2024 basic elections from the reserved parliamentary seat in Gaya.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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