Nitish Kumar told me to 'merge or get out': Jitan Ram Manjhi

Jitan Ram Manjhi squarely blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his son Santosh Suman’s exit from the State Cabinet, following which the State’s ruling Mahagathbandhan slammed its doors on his party HAM

Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday (June 14) squarely blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his son Santosh Suman's exit from the State Cabinet, following which the State's ruling Mahagathbandhan slammed its doors on his party.

The former Chief Minister, who broke his silence a day after the dramatic turn of events, also raked up the "humiliation" he had felt upon being forced to resign more than eight years ago, which helped the JD(U) chief return to the seat of power.

Keeping his cards close to the chest, the HAM founder, whose meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah a month ago has led to speculations of his return to the NDA, said, "We will decide the future course of action after our party's executive meeting on June 18."

"I met Nitish Kumar earlier this month. I was accompanied by MLAs of my party who wanted to share some concerns about their respective constituencies. The meeting continued for 45 minutes, most of which were taken up by the Chief Minister's harangue on our party's merger with JD(U)," said Mr. Manjhi.

"I tried to draw his attention, even told him in good humour that age seemed to be catching up on him," said Mr. Manjhi, incidentally, senior to Kumar by a few years.

The ex-CM claimed that when Mr. Kumar persisted with the talk of a merger, he said it was not possible, only to be brusquely told that "then you better get out".

"I was to leave for my own constituency in Gaya the same day and return on June 12. The CM asked me to think on his proposal again and let him know when I come back," claimed the HAM founder.