Dasharath Manjhi’s son and son-in-law have joined the JD(U). “Mountain Man” Dasharath Manjhi’s son and son-in-law have joined the JD(U).Patrick, J.

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, stated on Friday that the inclusion of two members of the famous stone-cutter Dasharath Manjhi’s family had given his JD(U) a boost. Dasharath Manjhi’s accomplishments earned him the moniker “mountain man.”

In the presence of top leaders including JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha, Rajya Sabha member Vashishth Narayan Singh, and ministers Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Ashok Chaudhary, and Sanjay Kumar Jha, Manjhi’s son Bhagirath and son-in-law Mithun joined the party here.

Ratnesh Sada, the party’s MLA who had been sworn in earlier that day to take Santosh Suman’s position as minister after he resigned earlier this week, was also there.

 

Suman, the leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha, which his father, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, formed, resigned after claiming that JD(U) pressured him to combine his party.

 

The inclusion of Dasharath Manjhi’s family members is seen as a move by the JD(U) to thwart Jitan Ram Manjhi’s efforts to use the victim card. Jitan Ram Manjhi, like the fabled stonecutter, is of the Musahar caste and has origins in the Gaya area.

 

Naturally, JD(U) politicians present at the event seized the occasion to condemn Jitan Manjhi, whom they charged of being “ungrateful” to Nitish Kumar.

 

Dasharath Manjhi is remembered for working for 22 years with only a hammer and chisel to flatten a hill and carve a pathway that decreased the distance between two administrative blocks of Gaya by almost 40 kilometres. Dasharath Manjhi passed away in 2007, a year after the state government recommended his name for a Padma Shri.

 

Despite struggling to make ends meet throughout his life, Manjhi received a state burial after passing away.

 

Manjhi’s heroic act came after his wife passed away from wounds she got while descending the hill to take her husband’s meal.

 

Nawazuddin Siddiqui portrayed the titular character in the movie “Manjhi – The Mountain Man” which was released in 2015, and a commemorative stamp was released the following year.