Manjhi does a Modi, calls FB followers for chai pe charcha
PATNA: Barely two months after Bihar’s former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi made his debut on Facebook, he is now offering his followers on the social media page a chance to meet him for a ‘tea and photo session’ on April 18.
“Will meet my Facebook friends on April 18. Will neither charge anything, nor will the visitors be paid travel expenses,” reads an April 10 post on the page.
The ‘tea and photo session’ will take place at 1, Aney Marg, Patna, the official residence of the Bihar chief minister which Manjhi has refused to vacate even though eight weeks have elapsed since he resigned as chief minister on February 20.
Manjhi has declared he will leave the house only when Nitish Kumar, who preceded and succeeded him as CM, vacates his current accommodation at 7, Circular Road. Manjhi wants to move into the house, claiming as ex-CM he is entitled to it.
“My first face-to-face meeting with my Facebook friends will provide me with an opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with young people. The inputs will help me finetune my political journey ahead,” Manjhi told HT on Friday.
Manjhi said his latest social media campaign was inspired by PM Narendra Modi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: “I decided to move into the social media space when I realized how well Modi-ji and Kejriwal-ji had used this space to communicate with the people at large.”
His ‘tea and photo’ session seems to have been inspired by Modi’s ‘chai pe charcha’ and Kejriwal’s fund raising dinner last year.
“The response to our ‘meet Manjhi’ offer is very encouraging. We have already received inquiries from hundreds of his supporters from Rajasthan, Haryana and UP,” said Ved Prakash, 28, the ex-CM’s chief media manager.