Accusing him of playing caste politics, man throws shoe at Bihar CM

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi  was almost the latest target of shoe throwing protesters, when a man tried to hurl footwear at him during a public meeting that he was holding in Patna. According to reports, the man tried to throw his slipper at Manjhi while he was holding a ‘janta durbar’ in Patna, where people are allowed to meet the Chief Minister with their grievances. The attacker, who was detained by police personnel present at the event, accused the Chief Minister of playing caste politics. [caption id=“attachment_2030311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manjhi was unhurt in the incident. PTI image[/caption] The man, hailing from Chapra district in the state, claimed that he had been coming for public meetings for the past two years but hadn’t ever received a hearing from the Chief Minister. “The janta darbar is a farce, only papers are collected…it is a nautanki,” he said while he was being taken away by the police, reported Zee News. He was also heard telling the police to kill him since he didn’t want to live. The exact nature of his grievance wasn’t immediately clear. The janta darbar sessions were earlier being conducted by Manjhi’s predecessor, Nitish Kumar. Manjhi has earlier earned the ire of his own party leaders for his statements on caste. As this report points out, the Bihar Chief Minister had been asked to refrain from making controversial statements on the matter. Manjhi had reportedly earlier said that “…upper castes are foreigners and descendants of the Aryan invaders while Dalits and Adivasis indigenous citizens of India” and had also said that he wouldn’t be cowed down by his own party’s instructions.