Patna: Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday advocated for a separate electorate for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Addressing his party HAM(S) state council meeting here, Manjhi referred to the Poona Pact proposal of 1932 and said, “If that had happened, Scheduled Caste representatives would have been elected only by Scheduled Caste voters,” he said.During the meeting, Anil Kumar was unanimously elected as the HAM(S) state president and Avinash Kumar its general secretary.“Unfortunately, no one in our party talks about the Poona Pact. Today, our seats are reserved, but others take votes from our people. When it comes to jobs, our poor people are left behind. That is why B R Ambedkar had demanded a separate electorate. But Mahatma Gandhi put his foot down against it and went on a fast and Ambedkar was forced to sign the Poona Pact without this clause,” Manjhi claimed.The dalit leader said there is no threat to the Constitution and reservation system till Narendra Modi is the PM and Samrat Choudhary is the Bihar CM. He said the opposition makes loud proclamations for electoral gain. “No one can abolish reservation as long as we are alive. The reality is that as long as the govts of PM Modi at the Centre and Samrat Choudhary in Bihar remain in power, no one dares to even touch reservation. With these two leaders at the helm, reservation for dalits is completely secure,” he said. Extending strong support to the CM, Manjhi said Samrat is being deliberately targeted.Manjhi, however, expressed displeasure with BJP for giving his party HAM(S) less number of seats than LJP(RV) and advised his son and Bihar minister Santosh Suman to speak up. “Only what is visible sells,” he remarked. He took a dig at his cabinet colleague and LJP(RV) chief Chirag Paswan and said, “He (Chirag) secured more seats by speaking out against the govt while I was handed nothing but a token gesture in the name of assembly seats.”
