Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
– Photo : Amar Ujala Digital
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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may not be trapped in dynasty politics, but he could not escape caste politics. Questions have also been raised on Nitish’s social engineering regarding the discussion of choosing Manish Kumar Verma as the political successor of Nitish, who calls himself the successor of the socialists.
Actually, Manish Verma is a Kurmi from Nalanda and is allegedly a distant relative of Nitish. On Tuesday, JDU’s working president Sanjay Jha got Manish Verma a JDU member. Since then, the discussion has started gaining momentum that Manish Verma will be Nitish’s successor. After joining JDU, Manish Verma said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has brought Bihar out of darkness and into light. Every moment he thinks about the development of Bihar and its people. Real socialism is alive in JDU, while nepotism dominates in the rest. However, Nitish has been opposing the politics of nepotism of socialist leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Biju Patnaik and the Gandhi family of Congress. Nitish, a staunch opponent of nepotism, did not hand over the political legacy to his son Nishant, but when it came to choosing a successor, he could not avoid casteism. This is an important political step. This decision will not only empower the Kurmi community, but will also protect the political legacy of Nitish Kumar.
CM called him to Bihar on deputation in 2012
Manish joined the IAS in 2000 and was allotted the Odisha cadre. During his tenure, he served in Odisha’s famine-hit district Kalahandi and was later made the DM of Malkangiri. In 2012, Nitish called him to Bihar on inter-state deputation and made him the DM of Purnia and Patna. Manish’s deputation ended in 2017 and he was given a one-year extension. In 2018, the Government of India directed him to return to Odisha, but Manish resigned from the job after 18 years of service. He did not take voluntary retirement as he could get VRS only after 20 years of service. Manish did not get a pension after resigning, but Nitish immediately made him a member of the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. He was also later appointed as the CM’s advisor on infrastructure development. In 2022, Nitish created a new post for him and made him an additional advisor to the Chief Minister.
Manish was the DM of Patna at the time of the stampede
Manish’s most controversial time came when he was the DM of Patna in 2014. 33 people, mostly women and children, were killed in a stampede during Ravana Dahan at the historic Gandhi Maidan. It is said that Manish Maurya was celebrating his son’s birthday at the hotel at the time of the incident. Despite this, the Bihar government did not take any action against him, indicating that his caste and his relationship with Nitish saved him.
