Sunday Interview - ‘I joined this alliance only to stop Nitish from coming to power’

Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi tells Nayear Azad that he is the most effective dalit leader in Bihar and says that people will benefit if the National Democratic Alliance is voted to power.

Are you satisfied with 20 seats?
My support to the NDA is unconditional and I had conveyed this to the Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah during my meeting with them. So the question of not being satisfied doesn’t arise.

But you had said that you wouldn’t accept if a respectable amount of seats were not offered to you.
During our meeting with the BJP leaders, including Mr Shah, I had conveyed that if they wanted the alliance to gain then my party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, must be given more seats. They gave us 20 and I have no problem. I wanted more seats only for the benefit of the alliance as I have the support of Scheduled Caste, extremely backward castes, economically backward castes and minorities.

There were also few in the alliance who thought that if I got more seats I will claim the chief minister’s position for myself after winning. But the fact is that I joined this alliance only to stop Mr Kumar from coming to power. I told them that Jitan Ram Manjhi is poor but not dishonest.

Who is the most effective dalit leader?
You’d better ask this question to the masses. Everyone knows the kind of support I have been getting from them and, secondly, all those who call themselves dalit leaders must also say what they did for them. I was the one who worked for their upliftment and welfare. Even when I was the chief minister I didn’t ignore them.

Ram Vilas Paswan claims his dalit support is far stronger than yours… your comments.
No doubt Mr Paswan is a senior leader as he came into politics in the year 1977 and I entered politics in 1980. There was a time when he was a popular dalit leader but in the Bihar Assembly elections, 2010, he was reduced to just three seats in Bihar. That’s why I wanted the BJP to distribute seats taking these issues in considerations.

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar feel that your alliance with the NDA is an “alliance of convenience”  that won’t last long.
As I told you, my only goal is to throw Mr Kumar out of power and that’s why I got into an alliance with the NDA and will continue to support the NDA on the issue. Mr Kumar is famous for betraying people. Everyone knows what he did to veteran leader George Fernandes and there are several others.
Mr Kumar has been using people for his own benefit and if today he has formed an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal it’s only because he can’t stay away from power.

What will be the agenda in the upcoming Assembly elections?
Development is the issue; there are so many sectors that need attention. When I was the chief minister, I wanted to make policies for the deprived section, dalits, extremely backward caste and minorities, but I had to face too many hurdles, even from Mr Kumar as he wanted me to work as a rubber stamp. I am sure people will benefit if the NDA is voted to power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is clear — on the issue of development he wants overall development of the state.

Is Bihar going to follow the Gujarat model of development?
No, we will not follow any model, but we may observe and implement what measures our other neighbouring states took and Gujarat could be one of them as it is a part of our country and follows the same Constitution.

Your comments on the DNA issue. Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav have blown this up and have linked it with “Bihari asmita” (pride).
Prime Minister Modi had questioned his political DNA not the biological DNA. Prime Minister is aware of his political character and Mr Kumar has a long history of backstabbing. He backstabbed me by pulling me out of the post of the chief minister. Mr Kumar and Mr Yadav blew up the issue only to gain from it. In my point of view, DNA will not become an issue in the Assembly elections. People know the reality and this time they will not get trapped.

Why is the NDA hesitant to declare its chief ministerial candidate? Mr Yadav says there is no one of Mr Kumar’s stature in the NDA.

The Grand Secular Alliance has only one, but the NDA has so many candidates. There is no need to declare a candidate before the elections. The BJP will declare the chief ministerial candidate at the right time. These things are being spread by Mr Kumar... He is the only option in the Grand Secular Alliance as Mr Yadav, after being convicted, cannot become chief minister... Let them say whatever they are saying. They will get the reply within two months.

Mr Kumar says that the development package announced for Bihar is actually a repackaging of several old schemes. He has said that until and unless there is a complete tax holiday in the state, no big-ticket investment will come to Bihar. Mr Kumar is adamant on his demand for special status.

His demand for special status is just a farce. It was he who had advised former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee not to approve the state government’s demand for special package and, today, he is talking about special status. I welcome the package which has been announced for Bihar. The state will not just get Rs 1.65 lakh crore, but Bihar will get a package of around Rs 5 lakh crore in the next five years. Mr Kumar fears that his men will be exposed. There was commission at every level. I observed this when I was the chief minister, but I was removed as I started taking action, removing ministers and bureaucrats involved in this racket.

You used to openly criticise the BJP when you were the chief minister and had raised the issue of black money, among many other issues. You had also termed the BJP as a threat to the nation and now you have joined hands with them.

I may have said this earlier but later I observed that after Mr Modi became the Prime Minister, the face of the BJP changed and today the party means development. Not only in India, but his work is being appreciated internationally. As far as black money is concerned, the Central government is working on the issue and I am sure black money stashed abroad will be brought back to the country very soon. Opposition parties are shouting because they have no issue left at all. All promises made by the Prime Minister will be fulfilled.