Patna, (Samajweekly) A day after Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi raised the issue of liquor ban review, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Sanjiv Kumar on Monday said that he and his party would not take Jitan Ram Manjhi seriously in Bihar.
“Manjhi used to give statements on various issues to attract the attention of the media. He used abusive words for Brahmins, raised questions over the relevance of Lord Rama and Ramayana and liquor ban of Bihar. Neither I, nor my party would take him seriously,” Kumar said.
“Liquor ban law is implemented in Bihar. Our chief minister (Nitish Kumar) has taken the decision of liquor ban law in Bihar and it will remain here. There could be a possibility that loopholes led to deaths of poor people of the state. We are making efforts to rectify it but liquor ban law will not be withdrawn,” Kumar said.
Manjhi, a former chief minister, is also a coalition partner in the Nitish Kumar government.
Sanjiv Kumar’s statement came at a time when Jitan Ram Manjhi asked Nitish Kumar to review the liquor ban law in Bihar.
He said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi could withdraw the three farm laws, Nitish Kumar could also do the same by withdrawing liquor ban in the state.
Meanwhile, HAM leader Danish Rizwan, reacting sharply to Sanjiv Kumar’s statement, said: “Some leaders of JD-U like Sanjiv Kumar are not much ‘senior’. The BJP leaders are rightly pointing out the status of JD-U everyday. Jitan Ram Manjhi is a stalwart leader and commenting on him could backfire on JD-U.
“I would like to ask the JD-U top leadership to put brakes on them. Avoid commenting on him or you could pay the price in future.”
