Jitan Ram Manjhi refutes talks of resentment with ally Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha supremo Jitan Ram Manjhi has said that NDA ally and Janata Dal-United Chief Nitish Kumar made him the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2014 which was a "huge honour" for him.

"I had promised to stay with Nitish Kumar till the end, but a few years ago he had asked me to form my party. But there is no regret about forming a separate party. Such events keep happening in politics," Union Minister Manjhi added.

He said: "If that incident had not happened then Jitan Ram Manjhi would not have been able to move forward today. One who is brave in actions remembers everything. I ignore things which happened in the past and respect him (Nitish Kumar) even today. He did whatever I said. There is no resentment between him and me."

Reacting to a query raised about the law and order situation in Bihar, Union Minister Manjhi said: "Nitish Kumar's thinking is clear that he does not interact with his party workers by inviting kidnappers and criminals to his house. This used to happen before 2005 when people were asked to pay extortion money. Therefore it is futile for the opposition parties to raise questions on law and order in the state.

The Minister added: "HAM will contest 25 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. However, our preparation is to fight for 100 seats. We will contest elections under NDA and win."