Putting an end to the political crisis in Bihar, Nitish Kumar on Monday announced his close aide Jitan Ram Manjhi as the next next chief minister of the state.
Jitan Ram Manjhi comes from a Mahadalit community known as Musahar. The Musahar were traditionally rat catchers, and there is still uncertainty as to their exact origin. Jitam Ram is also the SC/ST Welfare minister in the Bihar government.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections Jitan Ram Manjhi was JD(U)'s candidate from Gaya and had lost to BJP leader Hari Manjhi. Manjhi is also a close aide to former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
When the then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed his government in November 2005 post the October 2005 elections, Manjhi had won the election from the Barachatti constituency putting behind Samta Devi of Rashtriya Janata Dal. But Manjhi was asked to resign immediately on the next day when his alleged involvement in a scam surfaced. Manjhi was reported to have been involved in a fake B.Ed degree racket in the 1990s. He was later on re-inducted in 2008 after having absolved of the charges. In the 2008 food crisis in the state, Manjhi promoted eating rats as they caused damage to food grains and as rats and chicken had "equal food values, not only in terms of protein, but in all areas of nutrition".
He was elected to Bihar Legislative Assembly from Makhdumpur in Jehanabad district as a candidate of Janata Dal (United) in 2010.
Manjhi is considered as a close confidant of former Bihar Chief Minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar. Following the party's poor show in the 2014 general election, Kumar tendered his resignation as Chief Minister, accepting moral responsibility for the defeat.
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