Elated at Nitish's return, man chops off finger

Anil Sharma, a resident of Ghoshi in Jehanabad district, cut off his finger at a temple.

"I chopped off a finger and offered it to god as I had vowed I would do so if Nitish Kumar returned to power for a second term," Sharma, who is not well off, told IANS on telephone Thursday.

He had done the same when Nitish Kumar came to power in November 2005.

This time Sharma said he was impressed by the chief minister's development plank and his pro-people work in the last five years.

When asked why he had chopped his finger now, and not a week ago when Nitish Kumar actually emerged the winner, Sharma said his family members had been trying to persuade him against it.

Sharma's act has made him a household name in Jehanabad. Some called it sheer madness and others called it a way to express one's happiness.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has have together got 206 of the 243 seats in the assembly.