Reacting to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s remarks against the RSS, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, in a counter-attack, said that he doesn’t have education and doesn’t know anything about it.
The Union Minister further stressed the way he and his son received education despite belonging to the scheduled castes and facing several hardships.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “This is opposite. Wo Padhe Nahi Hai, Padhai Ka Marham Kya Jaane (Since, he doesn’t have education so what will he know about education?). We are from the last row of scheduled castes. Education was hard for us; we have studied despite of several hardships. I passed metric in merit and did graduation. Now, my son did PhD and is a professor now. RSS is a nationalist party, although, we are not within its fold but we can’t oppose it either.”
On Thursday, Bihar legislative assembly Leader of Opposition and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav criticised Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s remarks over the incident of arson in the State’s Nawada district, accusing him and his son of following the “RSS school” of thought.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader also slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government and said that the BJP is in power at the Centre and in the State, and they should take action against the culprits.
Responding to Jitan Ram Manjhi’s allegation that 90 per cent of those involved in the incident were RJD supporters and were from a particular caste, Tejashwi Yadav said, “He (Jitan Ram Manjhi) and his son have studied in RSS’s school. Whatever the BJP and RSS tells him he gives a statement based on that. Who is in power right now? They are in the government both at the Centre and in the state. They should take action against the culprits, who is stopping them?” Tejashwi said.
Union Minister Manjhi, in a post on social media platform X said, “There is a strange drama of the opposition in our country. The opposition people first get the Dalits tortured and then turns the incident into an issue and raises questions on the working style of the government. 90 per cent of the people arrested in the Nawada incident belong to a particular caste and are RJD supporters. Will Rahul Gandhi now say something on this or will he remain silent?”
In a shocking incident on the night of September 18, about 20-25 houses were set on fire by unidentified miscreants in the Mufassil Police Station area in Krishnanagar in Nawada district.
Providing crucial details on the arson incident Nawada Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDO) Akhilesh Kumar on Thursday confirmed that at least 15 people have been arrested in the case.
According to Sunil Kumar, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Sadar Nawada, initial investigations suggest that a land dispute may be the primary cause behind the arson incident.
