A Rashtriya Janata Dal minister’s condemnation of the Ramcharitmanas as a book that “carried forward the hatred propagated by Manu Smriti” has triggered a spat with ruling ally Janata Dal United, which has accused the partner of playing into the BJP’s hands.
JDU parliamentary board chairman and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha told reporters on Saturday that the remarks by Bihar education minister Chandrashekhar, and his party colleagues’ expression of support for him, would “benefit the BJP directly”.
“Such controversial statements should be checked (withdrawn) immediately. Any debate on such issues would amount to agreeing to the BJP’s agenda,” he said.
Chandrashekhar, MLA from Madhepura, made the comments while addressing the 15th convocation of the Nalanda Open University in Patna on Wednesday.
He said the Ramcharitmanas was “against the education of the backward classes, Dalits and women and carried forward the hatred propagated by Manu Smriti”. He equated the book with late RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar’s book Bunch of Thoughts, which provides the contours of a Hindu Rashtra.
While Chandrashekhar’s remarks would be diametrically opposed to the BJP’s view of the Ramcharitmanas, Kushwaha suggested the comments were a sly effort to give the BJP an issue to gain political mileage from.
“Such remarks strengthen suspicions about a nexus developing between the RJD and the BJP — (suspicions) that the RJD needs some benefits from the BJP,” Kushwaha said.
The insinuation was that Lalu Prasad and his family — facing investigations by central agencies like the income-tax department, CBI and the Enforcement Directorate — might be eyeing concessions from the Narendra Modi government.
Building construction minister and JDU leader Ashok Choudhary accused Chandrashekhar of misleading people with incorrect interpretations of the couplets of the Ramcharitmanas and sought withdrawal of his comments.
“Everybody knows how deeply chief minister Nitish Kumar respects Lord Ram and attends processions and celebrations related to him,” Choudhary said.
JDU lawmaker and former minister Neeraj Kumar led a procession of party leaders and recited from the Ramcharitmanas at a Hanuman temple here to protest Chandrashekhar’s comments. Choudhary and Neeraj are close to Nitish and their statements and actions are deemed to have his endorsement.
Chandrashekhar has refused to withdraw his comments.
State RJD president Jagadanand Singh said: “We are following the path shown by socialists. I assure Chandrashekhar that the entire party is with him. We’ll see when it comes to a fight with the kamandalwadis (Sangh parivar).”
The spat comes at a time fissures have developed between the JDU and the RJD, which had joined hands to form the government along with the Congress last August after Nitish quit the National Democratic Alliance.
The RJD has taken to attacking Nitish on issues such as his implementation of prohibition and corruption in the government. Some in the RJD have been calling for Nitish to step down in favour of deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
The BJP has been protesting Chandrashekhar’s comments and demanding a retraction.
Arsenic alert
High arsenic concentration has been found in groundwater in 18 districts of Bihar, as well as its correlation with incidences of gallbladder cancer at these places, according to a new study, a senior official said.
People in these districts are drinking water with arsenic concentration greater than the World Health Organisation’s permissible limit of 10 microgram per litre, he said. “The study by experts has found that out of the 38 districts, 18 have high arsenic contamination in groundwater. The worst-affected districts are Buxar, Bhojpur and Bhagalpur. The highest arsenic contamination (1,906 ug/L) in groundwater is in Buxar,” Ashok Kumar Ghosh, chairman of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, said.