Jitan Ram Manjhi is an Indian politician hailing from Bihar, serving as the Chief Minister of Bihar from Janata Dal United (JDU). He became the Chief Minister of Bihar after the resignation of Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of Bihar. Nitish Kumar was the supreme of Janata Dal United. Previously, he had served as Minister for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare in Nitish Kumar`s cabinet ministry. He is the third Dalit to become Chief Minister of Bihar after Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das.
Early Life of Jitan Ram Manjhi
Jitan Ram Manjhi was born on 6 October 1944 in Mahakar village under Khijarsarai area in Gaya district of Bihar. His father Ramjit Ram Manjhi and mother Sukri Devi were farm labourers belonging to the most backward Musahar caste of Dalits. After completing his graduation, he worked at the Gaya telephone exchange. Later he joined in politics. He was the prominent member of different national based and regional political parties like Indian National Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Dal- Janata Dal United.
Political Career of Jitan Ram Manjhi
Before joining JDU, Jitan Ram Manjhi was a member of Indian National Congress. Later he joined to Janata Dal (till 1996) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (till 2005). A senior party-hopping politician, Jitan Ram Manjhi has been a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1990. Jitan Ram Manjhi joined the JD(U) in early 2005, and was elected to the state assembly from the Barachatti (reserved) constituency in the elections held in November that year. Mr Nitish Kumar gave him the position of cabinet minister.
He has been a minister in many Bihar state governments, under multiple Chief Ministers of Bihar like Chandrashekhar Singh, Bindeshwari Dubey, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. Jitan Ram Manjhi is considered as a close confidant of Nitish Kumar. Following the poor performances in the 2014 Indian general election, Nitish Kumar accepted responsibility for the defeat and resigned.
Personal Life of Jitan Ram Manjhi
Jitan Ram Manjhi is married to Shanti Devi and has two sons and five daughters.
