Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha recently recited a poem in Rajya Sabha during a debate on the women's reservation bill in the special parliament session. The subject of the poem was 'Thakur (an upper caste community)'. Jha's reciting of the poem and comments have now fuelled the fire in his own party with MLA Chetan Anand reacting sharply against him. The RJD MLA said no one should make a 'target' or 'soft target' thing and anything like this "will not be tolerated at all".
"If people, where he lives, get to hear this (poem), they will not let him come there.... I am shocked that people there (Rajya Sabha) listened to it. I would have protested then and there had I been there," Anand said.
Meanwhile, JD(U) MLC Sanjay Singh sought an apology from Jha and warned him of the consequences of repeating something like this in the future. He said
"This is condemnable. Don't abuse Thakurs, Jha ji. Thakur is a fire which, if flares, no one will be able to extinguish. Nitish Kumar ji works with people of all castes and religion...don't give such indecent statements. Apologise," he said.
Notably, Jha recited Om Prakash Valmiki's famous poem 'Thakur Ka Kuan' and the act has drawn flack from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) as well.
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