BJP ally Jitan Ram Manjhi embarrasses NDA over PM’s pic on Covid-19 vaccine certificate

In a tweet, Manjhi said that if Covid-19 vaccination certificates bear the photo of the PM then death certificates must also have the same.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) partner in Bihar, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM-S), embarrassed the ruling coalition in the state Bihar once again when party’s president and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi made a demand.

BJP ally Jitan Ram Manjhi embarrasses NDA over PM’s pic on Covid-19 vaccine certificate

In a tweet, Manjhi said that if Covid-19 vaccination certificates bear the photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi then death certificates issued to all those who died of the virus must also have the PM’s photograph.

“If you are so fond of putting (the PM’s) photograph on the vaccine certificate, then his photo should be put on the death certificate of death too. Only this will be fair”, said Manjhi in a tweet on Monday.

This is the second time in two days that Manjhi had embarrassed the BJP and the NDA.

Earlier on Sunday, soon after taking the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination and after receiving the vaccination certificate, the former CM questioned the logic behind putting the PM’s picture on the vaccination certificates.

“President Ram Nath Kovind’s photo would be more appropriate on the certificate as he is the highest constitutional functionary in India,” said Manjhi. As an alternative, the former Bihar CM suggested that the certificates can have the photos of the President, the Prime Minister as well as the chief minister of the respective states.

Manjhi is not the lone politician to have objected to the PM’s photo on the certificates. The Jharkhand government started issuing certificates with CM Hemant Soren’s photograph instead. In a similar move, the Chhattisgarh government started rolling out its own vaccination certificate for the 18-44 age group with CM Bhupesh Baghel’s photo.

Manjhi’s tweet has given the opposition a ray of hope of a possible defection amid the pandemic. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), while backing Manjhi’s demands, provoked him to come out of the alliance. “What he raised today, the opposition has been demanding the same. If you are against the autocratic system, come out of it otherwise people will think that you are issuing statements to be in news,” said RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary.

“I can say for sure that the certificate is an authentic letter for one and all anywhere in the world,” said BJP Bihar president Sanjay Jaiswal while the Janata Dal (United) state president Umesh Kushwaha said, “Manjhiji is a mature leader and part of the NDA. In a democracy, everybody has the right to put forward his views and at times people come out with personal views as well, which is always welcome. This is the beauty of democracy.”

HAM-S spokesperson Danish Rizwan justified Manjhi’s demand and alleged that vaccination percentage among Dalits and Adivasis has been abysmally low in the state.

“Not 1% of the population of Dalit and the adivasis (the tribals) have been vaccinated yet because they are afraid and fear vaccination. Putting the President’s picture, who is also a Dalit, will inspire them,” said Rizwan.

The HAM-S spokesperson said that “One wants to get laurels for vaccination. Then he should also get the pictures on death certificates,” indicating a large number of Covid-19 deaths in the state.

Political analyst DM Diwakar said that Manjhi, by issuing such statements, is sending out a “confusing signal.”

“This means that all is not good for him in the ruling alliance and he’s probably judging waters elsewhere. The problem with him is that he cannot adjust anywhere but he, along with VIP, Owaisi’s party, can be helpful in forming government in such fluid conditions in Bihar,” said Diwakar who is also a former director at AN Singa Institute for Social Studies.

Manjhi’s party, the HAM-S, is part of the NDA in Bihar and his son Santosh Manjhi is the minister for minor irrigation and SC/ST welfare department in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government. The HAM-S won four seats out of seven it contested during assembly elections held in 2020.