Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today said he has no lust for power and the future person to take up office would be decided by the leadership of JD(U) and its alliance partners if the combine wins the 2015 Assembly polls in the state.
“The JD(U)LP while accepting the resignation of Nitish Kumar in May this year had decided to make another person CM till November 2015,” Manjhi said hinting at himself after presenting the ninth annual report card of JD(U) government of the state.
The future chief minister of Bihar would be decided by ‘big leaders' Sharad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad if the secular alliance wins in 2015 Assembly elections, he said elaborating.
Manjhi said his predecessor Nitish Kumar, for whom he was full of praise, was the ‘supreme leader' of JD(U) and would be its face in Assembly elections.
The Bihar chief minister has been facing heat from a section of legislators of his own party JD(U) in the wake of his remarks like foreign origin of upper caste. They have been putting pressure on the party to remove him.
Expressing satisfaction over his work as chief minister in the short span since assuming office in May this year, he said, “There are many examples of CM staying just for 2-3 months while my tenure is much longer ... In this limited span of time I tried to do my best to improve the lives of poor and downtrodden.”
Manjhi said he has been honestly trying to take the development benefits to the poor. “We all know that development benefits do not reach the poor because middlemen siphon off the fund ... In JD(U) regime sincere efforts have been made to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and we have succeeded to a great extend in this,” he said.
In reply to a question whether the new announcements of his government including free education for SC/ST boys and girls and girls of other sections were aimed at carving out vote bank among Dalits and youths, he replied curtly, “Are we here to rotate beads of garlands?”
