Manjhi's Imamganj adventure: Gamble or compulsion?

GAYA: Ex CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's decision to contest Imamganj as the second seat in the crucial 2015 assembly election has baffled observers of the Bihar Political scene. Though there is near unanimity among the observers on the point that Manjhi has taken a huge risk of the Great Gambler variety by locking horns with the Speaker in a direct contest, opinions differ on why Manjhi took the risk.
Whereas one section attributes it to rivalry with Chaudhary turning into virtual enmity, another section believes that Manjhi was trying to convert necessity into a virtue.
Taking the rivalry angle first. Ex CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's somewhat bold, may be misadventurous decision to challenge assembly speaker Udai Narain Chaudhary in Imamganj is fraught with risk. It is nothing but political gamble in which Manjhi has put everything at stake, says Ali Hussain who teachers Political Science to Post Graduate students in Gaya.
True that Manjhi has several scores to settle with Chaudhary, the assembly speaker. Many people believe that the speaker's action in declaring Jitan Ram Manjhi an unattached member of the house and disqualification of more than half dozen Manjhi supporter MLAs hit the ex CM where it hurt him the most. But he could have taken revenge by other means instead of a direct plunge into uncertain waters.
By declaring that he and he alone can defeat Chaudhary in the elections, Jitan Ram Manjhi has, in a way acknowledged the invincibility of Udai Narain Chaudhary. It would be the end of the road for Manjhi if he has to bite dust in Imamganj. Chaudhary is not easy meat for Manjhi or any other NDA politician for that matter.
2010 was the toughest election for Udai Narain Chaudhary as he had to battle it out on two fronts. Besides fighting Raushan Manjhi of the RJD, Chaudhary, in 2010 had also to combat the Maoists who virtually immobilised him almost for the entire election period. The naxal hostility this time is sufficiently reduced if not completely gone giving the speaker the much needed elbow room.
But there are people who see Manjhi's decision as compulsion driven. He is converting political compulsion into a virtue, says activist SB Bhaskar who knows Manjhi and his politics rather well. If Bhaskar is to be believed, Jitan Ram Manjhi was not comfortable in Makhdumpur and he had to hunt for alternative shelter.
Giving reasons, the activist says that even in 2010 when NDA candidates swept almost the entire Magadh region, Manjhi just somehow won the seat with a modest margin of about 5000 votes. Makhdumpur does have a very sizeable population of Paswans and in the last election, the Paswan rival gave Manjhi a run for his money.
This time, though Ram Bilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi are on the same side of the political divide, the duo is also engaged in a parallel war for Dalit leadership and as such the Paswans may feel tempted to nip Manjhi's ambitions in the bud.
Unlike Makhdumpur, Imamganj has a very strong Mushar presence and Manjhi naturally banks more on Mushars, his own castemen than the followers of Ram Bilas Paswan, said Bhaskar.
Gamble or Compulsion, it is make or break election for Manjhi.