New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS): Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday hit back at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge after he accused the NDA government of indifference and apathy towards Dalits while referring to the torching of over 100 houses belonging to the Mahadalit community in Bihar’s Nawada district over a land dispute.

The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said that many such incidents happened in the RJD era, however, in the NDA’s tenure such occurrences were only on the decline.

Speaking to IANS, Jitan Ram Manjhi said, "He should remember and compare it with the previous days. There used to be a time when whatever incident used to happen, it used to be solved by the Panchayat. This is not happening today. It is not right to say that the law and order situation in Bihar is bad and there is Jungle Raj in the state. People who were in power before 2005, or who are their supporters have no right to speak."

Manjhi asserted that when he was the Chief Minister of Bihar, he had raised his voice against such happenings.

"When I was the Chief Minister of Bihar or when I was in the Assembly, we had raised our voice against the fact that some groups of people who can't afford land, especially the Scheduled Castes (SCs) who were living on the lands provided through the Bhoodan movement were being exploited by people affiliated with some political parties," he told IANS.

Manjhi asserted that he launched the Bhumi Dakhal Dehani movement which was a land reform operation in Bihar, that helped Dalits reclaim land they owned but had been occupied by others.

"But, it has been stopped now and this is the reason that our poor people who live somewhere on the land of the Bihar government are falling prey to the land mafia. The land mafia feels that if these people are removed, then, we will utilise the land in many ways and sell it at a high price," he added.

"Mafiagiri is going on in Bihar and they are luring some people from the SC community and pushing them to do this kind of nefarious work which has resulted in the fire that destroyed 100 homes. “However, the Superintendent of Police has not given us any information about the deaths in the blaze. I will go there on September 22 and get the land papers. I will also get them the compensation and will try to build houses for them on the land under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana," he stated further.