Manjhi to 'protest' Nitish govt's recruitment event

Patna, Oct 31 (PTI) Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Tuesday announced that he will "protest" an event scheduled later this week when the Nitish Kumar government will give away recruitment letters to newly appointed teachers.

Taking to X, Manjhi, a former Bihar chief minister, announced that he will be holding a "court" for teachers' job aspirants who have been complaining of irregularities in the recruitment process.

Manjhi also explicitly stated that the 'Bihari Shikshak Abhyarthi Adalat' will be organised at his residence on Thursday "in protest against" the Nitish Kumar government's decision to distribute letters of appointment with fanfare.

Notably, Manjhi had quit the ruling Mahagathbandhan in June, when his son Santosh Suman also gave up his ministerial berth, upon Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ultimatum to merge HAM with JD(U) or leave.

Manjhi has since returned to the BJP-led NDA, which he had quit a year ago expressing solidarity with Kumar, though he has of late been lying low, unsure of the prospects of his eight-year-old party which is yet to open its account in a parliamentary election.

According to Kanhaiya Lal Srivastava, the Director for Secondary Education, the state has "made history" with the recruitment of over 1.20 lakh teachers in the "first phase" of the selection process.

The chief minister, who had last year assured his deputy Tejashwi Yadav that the latter's promise of creating "10 lakh jobs" in the state will be fulfilled, is scheduled to give away appointment letters to thousands of candidates at the historic Gandhi Maidan on November 2 when similar programmes have also been scheduled in other districts, to be attended by local dignitaries.

The BJP, which is now in the opposition in the state, has termed the recruitment process a "scam", claiming that those who were already employed as contractual teachers were being shown as having been "selected" in exams conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission.

The Mahagathbandhan has found itself with some ammunition to repel the charge, with a BJP leader in adjoining Uttar Pradesh sharing on X that his daughter has cracked the BPSC test and was looking forward to a teaching career in Bihar. PTI NAC ACD