New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on Tuesday admitted that it was a mistake to appoint Jitan Ram Manjhi as the chief minister of Bihar.
Nitish made the admission in an exclusive interview to Zee Media.
It may be recalled that Manjhi was appointed Bihar CM after Nitish stepped down claiming moral responsibility for JD(U)'s loss in the Lok Sabha polls last May.
Nitish today said JD(U) was forced to ask Manjhi to step down owing to the controversies surrounding him.
“It is before everyone what happened. All humans commit mistake,” Nitish said when asked if he had appointed a wrong man as chief minister.
“After a point of time, we were forced to step in, to ensure course correction and work as per people's mandate,” the former CM said, adding it was a mistake to have chosen Manjhi as his successor.
He also took pot shots at the BJP for allegedly supporting Manjhi.
“BJP once used to criticise Manjhi. Now they are supporting him,” he told Zee Media.
Nitish said when JD(U) was trying to bring together Janata Parivaar, Manjhi was allying with the BJP to spoil everything.
He further accused the BJP of trying to split JD(U).
“Like they (BJP) have split JVM (Jharkhand Vikas Morcha) in Jharkhand, they are trying to do the same with JD(U),” he alleged.
“BJP leaders at the Centre have become arrogant. They are only working for some corporates,” Nitish said further.
Responding to a question on the BJP-JD(U) split in the run-up to last year's Lok Sabha polls, Nitish said they had ended the alliance because BJP had started thinking other parties were no more allies but followers.
“See what they are doing with the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal. A coalition government is run in a manner Atal ji did. You can't impose your views on others,” Nitish said.
