Fan sacrifices another finger, his fourth, to mark Nitish win in Bihar

PATNA: Anil Sharma, an avid supporter of CM Nitish Kumar, did it once again on Monday. He chopped off the fourth finger of his left hand and offered it to a local deity after Nitish was sworn-in as the chief minister for the fourth consecutive term.
It’s not that Sharma, (45), a resident of Vaina village under Ghosi block in Jehanabad district, has sacrificed his finger to a local deity Goriaya Baba for the first time to express his happiness over Nitish’s victory in the state assembly polls.
Residents of Kako and Ghosi areas said Sharma chopped off his fourth finger and offered it to Goraiya Baba on Monday. “He visited the village temple and offered his finger to the deity as thanksgiving for showering blessings on Nitish,” a local resident Sanjay Kumar said.
Sharma, who worked as a gardener in Chennai, reached home after the results of the recently concluded state elections were declared. “I had promised to Goraiya Baba to sacrifice my finger if Nitish was voted to power once again,” Sharma told a select group of mediapersons.
Sharma, popularly known as Ali Baba, feels that Nitish is the only leader in Bihar who can bring development with justice. “Though I have not met Nitish Ji, I am a great admirer of him for his development policies,” he said, adding that he (Nitish) returned to power due to divine blessings of the deity.
The residents of Vaina village revealed that Sharma had been doing it (chopping off his finger every time when CM becomes CM) since 2005. “Locals called him a senile when he sacrificed one of his fingers for the first time following Nitish’s success in the 2005 assembly polls,” recalled Mritunjay Kumar, a resident of Ghosi in Jehanabad.
When asked about the reason for sacrificing his fingers for the sake of a leader who he never met, Sharma said, “I am happy and this is how I show my happiness.” He promised to repeat the exercise in future also.
In 2015, Sharma had made an abortive attempt to meet Nitish after offering his third finger to Goraiya Baba. “I am his great fan. It is up to him to take a final call,” he had said.