'Worried about avam not aam': Nitish slams Manjhi after allegations that cops were sent to guard trees

Who says Indian politics is short of drama. After being accused by his former protege Jitan Ram Manjhi that he had deployed 24 policemen just to prevent him from enjoying mangoes and litchi from the trees planted at his official residence, Nitish Kumar retaliated saying that he was more concerned about avam (population) and not aam (mangoes)."Humko avaam kii chintaa hai, jinko aam kii chinta hai unhe rahey (We are worried about the people, those who are worried about mangoes, let them be.)," Kumar said when he was asked by the media for a reaction to the allegation.The Bihar chief minister said that he has no knowledge of any such move to restrict the plucking of fruits from the gardens.

"Ye sab kii baat mujhe koi jaankari nahi hai, aisey tuchch vishay kay baarey mey mujhe nahii pata (I have no information regarding such insignificant issue)."He said that after reading the newspapers in the morning, he contacted the DGP and asked what was going on."If I knew about such a thing, I would have sent someone to go, pluck and give the fruits to Manjhi," Nitish said.Manjhi, who continues to occupy the official bungalow residence designated for Bihar Chief Minister even after being removed from the post in February this year, had said security was set up to prevent him from eating fruits and it was disrespectful."Yeh ghatiya maansikta hai, schedule caste kay aadmi ko phal ka laabh na ho, is liye kia unhone (This shows Nitish Kumar's twisted mindset, that a person from scheduled caste can not access the fruits)," he said.He said that many poor citizens would visit him at the official residence and the latest security arrangements might be aimed at preventing them to take away the fruits.He asked whether such arrangements were made when Lalu Prasad Yadav had been living there.And while the two former allies traded barbs, the BJP also jumped into the fray with Shahnawaz Hussain said that rather than protecting the people of Bihar, the chief minister was more interested in the protection of mango trees.Critics may have a a point. Policemen deployed on duty at the former CM's residence told reporters that they have been instructed to guard the fruits and prevent anybody from picking even the fruits that fall on the ground on its own.with inputs from PTI