Manjhi draws flak for "honeymoon" remark against Rahul, Tejashwi

Former Bihar Chief Minister JitanRam Manjhi on Thursday drew the ire of the Congress-RJDcombine for terming as ''honeymoon'' the frequent holidays ofRahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, taking time off the hustleand bustle of politics.

The septuagenarian, who is known to not weigh hiswords carefully, made the remark here during an interactionwith journalists after a meeting of his Hindustani AwamMorcha, which is a part of the ruling NDA in the state.

Manjhi, who appeared in public after spending weeks ata hospital, convalescing from COVID 19, had disapproved ofYadav choosing to be outside Bihar at a time when oppositionparties had the opportunity to cash in on the farmers'protests.

The HAM chief, who quit the RJD-led Grand Allianceshortly before the assembly elections, said he was similarlydisappointed when in 2019, after the drubbing in the Lok Sabhapolls, the RJD leader chose to spend months away from Bihar,frittering away the opportunity to place the Nitish Kumargovernment on the mat on issues like floods and the killerbrain fever.

''I would say the three 'yuvrajs' (crown princes) RahulGandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and (LJP president) Chirag Paswan lackin maturity. Whenever their presence is required in thecountry or in the state, they are away somewhere, enjoying ahoneymoon,'' Manjhi - a party-hopper who has previously been inboth the Congress and the RJD - had said on Wednesday.

Peeved at the innuendo, Bihar Congress spokesmanRajesh Rathore hit back recalling an incident of a few yearsago when one of Manjhi's sons was allegedly caught in a hotelwith a woman other than his wife.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, shared on its officialTwitter handle, old news clippings in which Manjhi sought todefend his son Praveen with the contention that there wasnothing objectionable in a relationship between two consentingadults.

RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari sought to twist theknife saying, ''Manjhi is frustrated. He enjoys no cloutdespite his party being a part of the government in which theBJP and the JD(U) are calling the shots''.

''He has expressed the wish for a greaterrepresentation in the state cabinet and in the statelegislative council. He knows that nobody is going to pay heedeven though his party is like an oar which has helped the NDAto sail through,'' said Tiwari.

He was referring to the BJP-JD(U) combine havingfallen short of a majority, and eight MLAs of HAM and anothersmall ally VIP propelling the coalition past the magic figure.

Manjhi ought to remember that Tejashwi Yadav may beleading the opposition, but he belongs to the party which hasthe highest number of MLAs in the state assembly, and his sonowes his berth in Vidhan Parishad to the support of the RJD-Congress combine, Tiwari added.

Manhi's son Santosh Kumar, who is currently a memberof the state cabinet, had got elected to the Upper House in2018 shortly after the HAM chief exited the NDA and joined theGrand Alliance.

The former chief minister was at that time the loneMLA of his party.

The LJP, an NDA ally which has ended up in troubledwaters following its brinkmanship in the assembly elections,was yet to come out with a reaction..