Jitan Ram Manjhi, 68-year-old Mahadalit leader, was Tuesday sworn-in as the 23rd chief minister of Bihar.Manjhi along with 17 ministers took oath of office at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan here, officials said.Manjhi was Monday named successor by outgoing chief minister Nitish Kumar after he was authorised by the Janata Dal-United legislature party to elect a new leader. Nitish Kumar refused to withdraw his resignation after his party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.Manjhi, a graduate, began his life as a shepherd to earn his livelihood. His father Ramjeet Ram Manjhi was a landless labourer."It is a fact that Manjhi in his childhood worked as a shepherd for a farmer in his native village," a close relative of Manjhi told IANS here.
Manjhi along with Nitish Kumar and JD-U chief Sharad Yadav Monday met Governor D.Y. Patil and staked claim to form the government.Party leaders said Nitish Kumar chose the soft-spoken Manjhi as he is a non-controversial leader with a clean image.Manjhi - from the Mushahar community - was SC/ST welfare minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. He is legislator from the Makhdoompur assembly constituency."For the first time, a leader from the Mushahar community, poorest and at the bottom of the socio-economic category, has become chief minister," JD-U spokesperson Nawal Kumar Sharma said.Manjhi also contested the Lok Sabha poll from Gaya constituency but lost.A native of Mahkar village in Gaya district, Manjhi is the third Dalit to become chief minister after Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das.The JD-U earlier said it has the majority to form the government with support of the Communist Party of India and Independent legislators.