Patna June 10, 2025: After LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan’s declaration to contest all 243 seats, Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Union MSME Minister, attacked him without taking his name and said that strong people cannot speak, weak speaks.
Addressing the media in Patna, Manjhi avoided naming Chirag but issued a scathing critique loaded with political undertones.
“The one who is strong does not speak. Only the weak speak,” said Manjhi, questioning Chirag’s show of strength through large convoys and sloganeering supporters.
Jitan Ram Manjhi made convoy remarks:
He claimed that out of 20 vehicles in Chirag’s convoy, half were filled with people merely shouting slogans a clear attempt to undermine Chirag’s perceived popularity.
In an effort to expose what he sees as Paswan’s inflated public image, he remarked, “I have come to know that 20 vehicles are kept out of which 10 are only for people who raise slogans.”
Manjhi hinted that Chirag’s popularity might be manufactured rather than organic.
Jitan Ram Manjhi brought up Chirag’s absence during the 2024 Imamganj by-election, where Manjhi’s daughter-in-law, Deepa Manjhi, contested as the NDA candidate.
Though Chirag Paswan campaigned in nearby Belaganj, Terari and Ramgarh constituencies, he skipped Imamganj something has now publicly criticized.
“All NDA leaders know who came and who didn’t. We are not among those who just pretend,” he said.
Further revealing strains within the alliance, Manjhi noted that HAM was promised two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha berth, but was eventually allotted only one seat in the 2024 general elections.
Despite this, he emphasized his party’s discipline and restraint.
Widening rifts in Bihar’s NDA:
This brewing tension signals potential rifts in the NDA’s Bihar unit, especially as Chirag positions himself aggressively ahead of the elections.
Manjhi’s remarks, although veiled, have exposed the unease within the alliance, suggesting that all is not well between key regional players.
EOM.