Nitish's 'greed for power' has given rise to new political development in Bihar: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday alleged that former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's greed for power has given rise to a new political development in Bihar and said that the people of the state would not forgive the Janata Dal (United) leader for this undignified behaviour.

"Nitish Kumar stepped down and made a Dalit the Chief Minister but such people in the Janata Dal (United) are not used to stay away from politics. I think the greed for power again has given rise to a new political development in Bihar and that too by joining hands with Lalu Yadav. The people of Bihar would not forgive the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal for this undignified behaviour," BJP leader and Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy told ANI here.

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"In Bihar, it is clear that there is an internal friction in the ruling party. And the way the Bihar CM has made the statement, I feel that the restriction of the government has lapsed," he added.

According to the reports, JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav is expected to ask Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to step down from his post in a meeting to be held tomorrow. Senior JD (U) leaders want his predecessor Nitish Kumar to lead the party yet again in the run-up to the elections due in the state later this year.

Manjhi, who heads a minority government supported by Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has off late been backed by Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, who is also a minister in the BJP-led government at the Centre, yesterday said that Manjhi was never given freedom by his predecessor Nitish and the RJD chief to stamp his authority on the government.

"Manjhi was never given freedom by his predecessor Nitish Kumar and the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad to stamp his authority on the government and take decision on the development and law and order fronts as a result of which Bihar has been gripped with a 'constitutional crisis' due to rapid deterioration of the law and order situation," he said.

Manjhi, who has embarrassed his party on several occasions during his short tenure as the Chief Minister, earlier declared a meeting called tomorrow by party chief Sharad Yadav as 'illegal'. Manjhi, who has contended that only the Chief Minister can call the meeting of MLAs, has called one such meeting for February 20

Nitish, who had resigned as the Chief Minister owning responsibility for his party getting only two of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats, had handpicked Manjhi to take his place.