Manju Verma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
| Preceded by | Anil Choudhary |
| Constituency | Cheria-Bariarpur |
| In office 2010–2015 | |
| In office 2015–2020 [1] | |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Janata Dal United |
| Spouse | Chandrashekhar Verma |
| Relatives | Sukhdeo Mahto (father-in-law) |
| Residence | Supaul |
Manju Verma is an Indian politician and former Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly. She was the Minister of Social Welfare in the Bihar Cabinet. [2]
Verma belongs to Kushwaha or the Koeri caste. [3] As per her affidavit submitted to Election Commission of India,she has pursued education up to intermediate level and her husband has been an agriculturist. [4] She is the daughter-in-law of veteran Communist Party of India leader Sukhdeo Mahto. [5]
Manju Verma has been an MLA from Cheria-Bariarpur constituency twice which falls under Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency. The seat she represents was earlier also represented by her father-in-law who was a member of Communist Party of India,while her husband is also a leader of Janata Dal (United) to which she belonged earlier. Verma has been an MLA in 2010 as well as 2015.In 2015,she was the only female member of Nitish Kumar's cabinet where she was given the portfolio of social justice ministry. [6]
Verma was expelled from JD(U) after the notorious Muzaffarpur shelter case in which she was allegedly involved. The maintenance of shelter home in which minor girls were kept was under the charge of her ministry. Later,she and her husband were also booked under "arms act",when CBI raid took place upon their ancestral house in connection with the "shelter case" which involved sexual abuse against destitute minor girls. The police however failed to arrest her after the case was lodged and the owner of shelter home,Brajesh Thakur was arrested. After three months,she surrendered into the court and accused JD(U) and Nitish Kumar of targeting her. [7] [8]
In March 2019,Patna High Court granted bail to her in both the cases while her husband remained lodged in the jail. [9] After Verma's resignation as the social welfare minister in connection with the case,Krishnandan Verma,the education minister in Nitish's 6th cabinet was allocated additional charge of social welfare ministry. During her trial Manju Verma had claimed that,she has been harassed because of her caste,thus allocation of her ministry to Krishnandan Verma was taken as a moderation attempt by the JD(U) leadership. [10] In 2018,in an interview with The Telegraph ,Verma claimed her husband to be innocent. According to her,she visited the shelter home only once with her husband on the occasion of a programme when she saw the girls cooking in their dirty clothes,but they refused to tell anything on enquiry. [3]
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections,the Janata Dal (United) party from which Verma had resigned earlier following the cases of alleged involvement of her husband in Muzaffarpur Shelter home case again made her the party candidate to Bihar Assembly from the Cheria-Bariarpur constituency. [11]
Verma was defeated in this election by Raj Banshi Mahto of Rashtriya Janata Dal,a former Member of Parliament. [12]
Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"),abbreviated as JD(U),is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar and Manipur and is a part of government in both the states. JD(U) heads the government in Bihar and is part of the NDA government in Manipur. JD(U) won 12 seats in the 2024 Indian general election,making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha. JD(U) states that they believe in promoting social justice and lifting up marginalized peoples.
Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture,including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis,Kachhvahas,Koeris and Muraos. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta,but beginning in the 20th century,they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha,one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present,it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status,who,over the time,started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi,Kachhwaha,Kushwaha,Mali,Marrar,Saini,Sonkar,Murai,Shakya,Maurya,Koeri and Panara.
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The Koeri,also referred to as Kushwaha and more recently self-described as Maurya in several parts of northern India are an Indian non-elite caste,found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturists rather than agriculturists. They are also recorded as performing the work of Mahajan in credit market of rural parts of Bihar and Bengal in 1880s. Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation—as part of social resurgence. During the British rule in India,Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. They are described as a dominant caste in various opinions.
Cheria-Bariarpur is an assembly constituency in Begusarai district in the Indian state of Bihar.
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Upendra Kumar Singh,commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician,and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district,Bihar,and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP),his own party,which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later,he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP),which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023,Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar. Kushwaha contested the Lok Sabha election of 2024 from Karakat constituency and finished at a distant third position. However,he was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in August 2024.
Santosh Kumar alias Santosh Kushwaha is an Indian politician and a former Member of Parliament representing the Purnia constituency in Bihar. He was first elected in the 2014 Indian general election,having run as the Janata Dal (United) candidate in the constituency. In 2010 he was also elected as Member of Legislative assembly of the Baisi of Purnea district as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. One month before 2014 lok sabha election he joined JD(U) as he was nominated as the party candidate for Lok Sabha election for Purnea constituency.
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"I belong to the Kushwaha caste which is also known as Koiri. Our caste has always become the role model of guiding the society, our ancestor is emperor Asoka and we follow his guidelines. We are engaged in farming and feed others. We never suppress anyone and are not involved in heinous crimes. It is the RJD and the Yadav caste that is involved in such acts," Manju declared at a media conference at her 6 Strand Road residence.