JD-U to parade legislators in Rashtrapati Bhavan: Nitish Kumar

Aiming to put pressure on Bihar Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi for inviting him to form the next government in the state, former chief minister Nitish Kumar Tuesday said his party will parade his supporter legislators in Rashtrapati Bhavan Wednesday.

"I, along with legislators, will go to Delhi by Tuesday evening flight to meet President (Pranab Mukherjee) after we did not receive any invitation from the governor 24 hours after staking claim to form the next government," Nitish Kumar told reporters here.

Nitish Kumar said he will parade his supporter legislators before the country's president. "I have requested the president to give us time to meet him Feb 11."

Nitish Kumar, along with 130 legislators of his Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI), Monday went to Bihar Raj Bhavan here to show his strength.

The move was to stake claim to forming the next government in the state after meeting Governor Tripathi.

Nitish Kumar later said they would wait for the governor's decision to invite him to take oath and form the next government.

The former chief minister, however, warned that if the governor failed to invite him soon, his party would parade their supporting legislators before the president in Delhi.

According to JD-U leaders here, the party has approached a private airlines to block seats in two lots of 72 each in its evening flights Tuesday.

Nitish Kumar has reiterated that Manjhi is encouraging horse-trading. "Delay on the part of the governor to invite us to form the next government will provide opportunity to Manjhi for horse-trading to prove majority," he said.

Nitish Kumar has accused Manjhi of trying to organise defections to stay in power.

"It appears that Manjhi has got a horse-trading licence after he met Modi in Delhi," he said, referring to the chief minister's meeting in Delhi Sunday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Manjhi was hand-picked by the then chief minister Nitish Kumar as his replacement after quitting last year following the JD-U's rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

In the 243-member assembly, the JD-U has 115 legislators -- most of whom are reportedly with Nitish Kumar. It is backed by 24 legislators of the RJD, five of the Congress, two Independents and one from the CPI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 88 legislators and is supported by three Independents.