Family matters in Bihar's Dalit politics—Manjhis to Paswans, how kin are rising up the ladder

The Print

2 days ago

Opposition RJD criticised the appointments, saying these were made with an eye on the assembly elections due later this year.
Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law Mrinal Paswan has been appointed chairperson of the commission, while Jitan Ram Manjhi's son-in-law Devendra Manjhi has been made its vice chairperson.
New Delhi: The Nitish Kumar government's decision to appoint the relatives of Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi to top posts in the Bihar Scheduled Caste Commission months before elections has fuelled debate around 'dynastic politics' in parties led by Dalit leaders in the state.
Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's family now has seven members in politics, competing with the Lalu Prasad Yadav family's dominance in the state.
Manjhi, who comes from the Mahadalit musahar community, contested the Lok Sabha polls from the Gaya seat in 1991, 2014, 2019 and 2024. He won only the 2024 polls. He is currently the oldest minister in the Modi cabinet, holding charge of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry.
The Manjhi family
Manjhi's son Santosh Kumar Suman is the national president of their party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). He is a minister in the Nitish cabinet, holding the Minor Water Resources portfolio. He was a minister in Nitish Kumar's 2020 cabinet too when he held the Minor Irrigation and SC/ST Welfare portfolios.
Suman's wife Deepa Manjhi won the byelection from Imamganj assembly constituency in November 2024 as Jitan Ram Manjhi vacated the seat after his election to Lok Sabha.
Deepa Manjhi's mother Jyoti Devi is also an MLA from the party. She represents the Barachatti assembly constituency.
Devendra Manjhi, who has been made the vice-chairperson of the SC Commission, has been HAM general secretary and unsuccessfully contested the assembly election in 2020 from Makhdumpur.
Jitan Ram Manjhi has two sons and five daughters. His younger son Pravin Suman is also in politics. Manjhi's elder daughter Sunaina has contested a deputy mayoral election in 2022.
Devendra Manjhi first came in news in 2014 when Jitan Ram Manjhi, as the chief minister of Bihar, appointed him as his personal assistant, and another relative, Satendra Kumar, a clerk.
The BJP, then in the opposition, criticised Manjhi, citing a general administration department's order of 23 May 2000 that no minister can appoint a relative as PA. Manji defended the appointment, saying Devendra has been his PA since 2006. But as the controversy erupted, Devendra resigned.
When ThePrint spoke to him after his appointment at the SC Commission, Devendra Manjhi said, 'When a doctor's son becomes a doctor, nobody asks questions.'
He said he is an engineer and has been working among people for the last 25 years, despite being the son-in-law of an MP and former chief minister. 'Today, after spending so much time among people, I have been appointed as vice-chairperson to work among Dalits. What is wrong with it?'
He said the HAM fought the 2015 elections in alliance with the RJD and the JD(U), and the party was given 21 seats to contest. 'But I did not get the ticket then and contested as an Independent. Nobody asked why Manjhi's son-in-law did not get a ticket. My appointment is not dynastic politics.'
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The Lalu family
RJD president Lalu Prasad himself no longer contests elections due to ill health. But his two sons—Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav—are members of the Bihar legislative assembly, and their mother Rabri Devi, also a former chief minister, is in the state legislative council.
Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti, a former Rajya Sabha member, now represents the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency. His another daughter, Rohini Acharya, unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Saran.
His other daughter Raj Lakshami is married to the late Mulayam Singh Yadav's grandson Tej Pratap Yadav, a Samajwadi Party MLA.
Raj Lakshami's sister Anushka is married to Chiranjeev Yadav, who is son of Haryana Congress leader Ajay Yadav. Chiranjeev was an MLA until 2024 when he lost the assembly poll.
Prasad's daughter Ragini is married to Rahul Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh MLC Jitendra Yadav. Rahul contested the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Sikandrabad but lost.
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The Ram Vilas family
Late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan formed the Lok Janshakti Party in 2000. After his death in 2020, the party split into Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), controlled by his son and MP Chirag Paswan, and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party led by his brother Pashupati Kumar Paras.
Chirag's brother-in-law Mrinal Paswan, who is the Lok Janshakti Party's (Ram Vilas) general secretary and who unsuccessfully contested the 2020 assembly polls from the Raja Pakar seat in Vaishali, has been made the chairperson of SC commission by the Nitish Kumar government.
Mrinal is married to the daughter of Ram Vilas Paswan and his first wife Rajkumari Devi, who was recently in news after Pashupati Kumar Paras's wife Sobha Devi allegedly humiliated her.
Like Manjhi, Ram Vilas Paswan can also be credited with bringing his family members into politics.
He first got Pashupathi Paras to contest the 1977 Bihar assembly elections, and later made him the state president of the undivided LJP. Paswan's other brother Ram Chandra Paswan contested the 1999 Lok Sabha polls and won.
Ram Vilas' two daughters—Usha and Asha—from his first marriage are married to politicians. Paswan has two children from his second marriage, Chirag Paswan and daughter Nisha.
Chirag is the MP from Hajipur, while Nisha is married to Arun Bharti, who represents the Jamui Lok Sabha seat.
Ram Chandra's son Prince was also a Lok Sabha member but he lost his Samastipur seat in the 2024 polls.
Mrinal Paswan told ThePrint he has spent many years in politics and he cannot be called an example of dynastic politics. 'I didn't get anything automatically,' he said. 'I will work for all sections of society.'
In other appointments, Nitish Kumar has made Manoj Rishi the chairman of the Mahadalit Commission. Manoj is son of Vishwanath Rishi, a former minister and the first chairman of Mahadalit Commission.
Nitish Kumar created the first Mahadalit Commission in 2007, two years after coming to power in 2005 for his second term. He empowered them by facilitating land ownership, skill development, reserving seats in local bodies and creating employment opportunities for them.
This was seen as his attempt to create a captive Mahadalit voter base for his JD(U).
The Nitish government also appointed Bhumihar leader Maha Chandra Prasad as the chairperson of the Bihar Swarn Commission. Gulam Rasool Balyawi, who vocally protested against the Waqf Act, has been appointed the chairperson of the state's Minority Commission, which is being seen as an attempt to send a message to the minority community.
Other Dalit leaders
There are other Dalit leaders whose kin entered politics.
Former deputy prime minister Jagjiavn Ram's daughter Meira Kumar became a Lok Sabha speaker. Her son Anshul is a Congress spokesperson and has contested a Lok Sabha election.
BSP chief Mayawati promoted his brother Anand Kumar as the vice president of the party and nephew Akash Anand as chief national coordinator. Congress leader and former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti Shinde is now a member of Lok Sabha.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank is a minister in the Karnataka government and son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani an MP from Gulbarga.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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