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]
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 |
| Residence | Supaul |
Early life edit
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]
Political career edit
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.[5]
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.[6][7]
In March 2019, Patna High Court granted bail to her in both the cases while her husband remained lodged in the jail.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]
Verma was defeated in this election by Raj Banshi Mahto of Rashtriya Janata Dal, a former Member of Parliament.[11]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Cheria Bariarpur Election Result 2020: चेरिया बरियारपुर पर अब राजवंशी का 'राज', समर्थकों ने मनाया जश्न". Prabhat khabar. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "Nitish Kumar has traced the real culprit in the Muzaffarpur shelter home outrage - the 'system'". www.dailyo.in. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- ^ a b Bhelari, Amit. "Caste card counter". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
"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.
- ^ "InfoBiharcandidate_Manju Verma". Myneta.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Sharma, Aman. "bihar-minister-manju-verma-plays-caste-card-in-muzaffarpur-aftermath". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "'Being Harassed Due To Caste': Ex-Bihar Minister Named In Sex Abuse Case". NDTV. 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "muzaffarpur-shelter-home-brajesh-thakur-moves-hc-against-jail-for-life-for-sexual-assault". outlook India. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Tewary, Amarnath (12 March 2019). "ex-minister-manju-verma-granted-bail-by-patna-hc". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "education-minister-krishnandan-varma-gets-social-welfare-charge-after-manju-verma-s-resignation-". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Tewary, Amarnath (7 October 2020). "Bihar Assembly election: JD(U) offers ticket to Manju Verma". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "JDU ex minister Manju Verma trails". The Print. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.