Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today lost his temper at a crowd of protesters at his constituency and shouted "I don't win because of your votes."This was Mr Manjhi's response to banners of "no electricity, no votes" held up during his speech by people protesting long power cuts in this area in Bihar's Jehanabad district.The chief minister was at a school to unveil a statue when the crowd started raising slogans. Rattled by their threat to stop voting for him if they did not get power supply, a rattled Mr Manjhi snapped, "You don't scare me. Your conduct shows that you don't vote for me."

Later, he calmed down somewhat as he promised that all villages in the district would get electricity by next year. But this hardly helped, as the incessant shouting continued throughout the event.Mr Manjhi, 69, took charge as Chief Minister in May after Nitish Kumar resigned owning responsibility for their Janata Dal United party's poor performance in the national election.