Jitan Ram Manjhi Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Politician
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Grey (semi-bald)
Politics
Political Party	• Indian National Congress (1980—1990) • Janata Dal (1990—1996) • Rashtriya Janata Dal (1996—2004) • Janata Dal (United) (2005—2015) • Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (2015—Present)
Political Journey	• Contested and won the assembly elections from the Fatehpur constituency (Gaya district) in 1980 • Contested and lost the 1991 Lok Sabha elections from Gaya constituency on Indian National Congress (INC) ticket • Became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2014 • Contested and lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Gaya constituency on Janta Dal (JD) ticket • Founded Hindustani Awaam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) on 8 May 2015 • Contested and lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Gaya constituency as an Hindustani Awaam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) candidate in coalition with Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) • Contested and won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Gaya Constituency as a candidate of National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	6 October 1944 (Friday)
Age (as of 2024)	79 Years
Birthplace	Gaya (Bihar)
Zodiac sign	Libra
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Gaya (Bihar)
School	Gaya College, Gaya Magadh University, Bodhgaya (1964)
College/University	Magadh College, Magadh University, Bodhgaya (1966)
Educational Qualification	Graduate
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Musahar (Dalit)
Address	Vill-Mahakar, P.O.-Sapneri, P.S.-Mahakar, Dist.-Gaya, State-Bihar
Controversies	• Remarks on Sri Rama and Ramacharitmanas Manjhi hit the controversy in 2023 when he called 'Sri Rama' an 'imaginary figure.' He said, “I have always held that Lord Rama is an imaginary figure and not a historical one. I am not the first one to have said so. Similar views have been expressed by scholars like Rahul Sankrityayan and Lokmanya Tilak. But since they were Brahmins, nobody took exception. When I say it, people have problems...” He stated this in agreement with the then education minister of Bihar, who criticised those verses of 'Ramacharitmanas' which portrayed the 'Shudras' in poor light. This agitated many of Manjhi's voters. Later, he covered up his remarks by visiting the 'Ram Mandir' in Ayodhya and stating on more than one occassions that he respects and believes in Lord Rama.
Social Media	• Instagram • Facebook • Twitter
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Shanti Devi
Children	Sons- 2 Santosh Suman Manjhi (politician) Daughters- 5
Parents	Father- Ramjit Ram Manjhi; deceased (farm labourer) Mother- Sukri Devi (farm labourer)
Style Quotient
Car Collection	• Ambassador • Scorpio Mahindra
Expensive Things/Valuables	• 1.315 Rifle • DBBL Gun
Money Factor
Assets/Properties	Movable Assets • Cash: Rs. 40,500 • Deposits in Banks, Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies: Rs. 15,28,846 • Other Assets: Rs. 1,95,000 Immovable Assets • Residential Building : Rs. 12,00,000
Net Worth (approx.)	36.3 lakhs

Some Lesser Known Facts About Jitan Ram Manjhi

• When he was about one and a half years old, his family became the victim of a massive flood that hit Gaya in 1946. At that time they were residing in Mahakar village (Khijarsarai area) in Gaya and escaped it by climbing a tree.

• Jitan Ram lived in a 4-foot-high hut as his parents were landless labourers.

• His community – Musahar is known for catching and eating rats. When he became the Chief Minister of Bihar, a British newspaper reported that Jitan Ram Manjhi grew up catching and eating rats.

• During village festivals, Jitan Ram’s father used to perform as a dancer wearing women’s clothes. He wanted to educate Jitan Ram and therefore asked his friend, who was a tutor to educate his son.

• As a child, Jitan Ram used to take his landlord’s buffaloes for grazing every morning and in return he was offered a daily meal. In the evenings, he used to take classes from his tutor. He was home-tutored till 7th standard and then moved to another village to continue his formal education in a school.

• He received a small stipend from the government school for belonging to the Musahar caste but was forced to give some of its portion to his school teacher. On refusing, he was given low grades but he continued his schooling.

• Jitan Ram experienced hatred because of his caste when he was 13 years old. His school teacher had asked him to deliver a food basket to his sister. When he delivered it and took off the cloth from the basket, the woman shouted at him to have touched her food calling him an untouchable.

• In college, he began to take tuition to support himself financially. Jatan Ram Manjhi faced caste discrimination in college as he was asked to sleep either in the sick room or share a room with drunks and drug addicts, unlike other students who were given a regular room in the dormitory.

• Jitan Ram worked as a clerk at the telephone exchange department of Gaya for 13 years. He left this job as soon as his brother became a policeman.
  

  Jitan Ram Manjhi during his younger days

• He served as minister in Bihar’s state governments several times, having served under the tenure of many Chief Ministers of Bihar like Chandrashekhar Singh, Bindeshwari Dubey, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, and Nitish Kumar.

• His party Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) was founded simply as Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). The word ‘secular’ was added a month after its formation.

• In 2015, Jitan Ram Manjhi stated that the legal marriage age should be 25 years for both males and females. He believes in the Hindu mythology’s ‘Ashram system’ according to which marriage after 25 years avoids health and malnutrition issues.

• Jitan Ram Manjhi served as minister for SC & ST Welfare in the Nitish Kumar government in 2014.

• He is known for changing parties and has done it about 8 times until 2024.

• He contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election on the reserved seat for Schedule Caste and supported the NDA Alliance. His rival was Kumar Sarvajeet, who contested on Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) ticket and was backed by the INDI Alliance.
  

  Jitan Ram Manjhi with Narendra Modi