Hours after oath Nitish sacks tainted minister

Jitan Ram Manjhi, accused in a scandal involving selling of fake degrees for B Ed courses, submitted his resignation to Governor.

Bihar's new Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dropped a minister just 10 hours after the oath-taking ceremony on discovering that he was involved in a corruption scandal.

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Jitan Ram Manjhi, accused in a major scandal involving selling of fake degrees for B Ed courses, submitted his resignation to Governor Buta Singh.

According to a ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader, the chief minister told his party seniors that he would not compromise on his promise of providing a clean administration.

Manjhi, who had won from the Barachatti Assembly constituency in Gaya district bordering Jharkhand, was minister in the previous Rashtriya Janata Dal government of Rabri Devi in 1999 and was forced to quit when the scam surfaced.

He subsequently shifted loyalties to the JD(U).