Nitish to stake claim but Manjhi wants trial of strength

Bihar Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary today recognised Kumar as the new leader JD(U) legislature party leader in place of Manjhi

The power struggle in Bihar is heading for a full-fledged confrontation in the Assembly between former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the current Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. As Kumar prepares to stake claim on Monday to form a government, Manjhi on Sunday ruled out his resignation before a trial of strength.

Nitish will meet Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi at 1.30 PM, Raj Bhavan sources said after the JD(U) (Janata Dal United) submitted letters of support of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI) and an independent MLA claiming that Nitish had the backing of 130 MLAs in the 243-member House.

Bihar Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary too recognised Nitish as the leader of the JD(U) Legislature Party and the party said it had replaced Manjhi after he refused to step down.

Manjhi, who was in the national capital for the meeting of NITI Aayog, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid speculation that BJP could play a crucial role in a possible trial of strength.

Meanwhile, the Governor accepted resignation of 20 cabinet Ministers loyal to Nitish, who put in their papers on Saturday.

Governor took action on the advice of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, PRO to Governor S K Pathak said.

In the 243-member assembly, JD(U) has 111 MLAs, BJP 87, RJD 24, Congress 5 besides 5 independents, while ten seats are vacant. With the present effective strength of the assembly at 233, the magic figure is 117.

Insisting that he was still the chief minister, Manjhi, who is a mahadalit, said that he would step down only after he failed to prove majority on the floor of the House.

He said BJP was welcome to support him but claimed he did not discuss politics in his meeting with Modi but told him to support Bihar in its “current” situation so that it could develop.

“Assembly is the place to prove majority. I have already written to the Governor for convening Budget Session of the Assembly. I will prove my majority on February 19 or 20. If Nitish Kumar has numbers, why is he unduly worried. If they prove I do not have numbers, I will step down,” he told reporters soon after meeting Modi.

He termed the actions of Nitish-led faction as “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Attacking Nitish, he said the former Bihar Chief Minister was happy as long as he was a “rubber stamp” but when his “self-respect woke up” and he began acting independently, Kumar began plotting his removal.

“I know he is a good man. But he cannot live without power. He thought I am a Maha-Dalit and of average intellect.”

“For 34-35 years in politics, I played a dumb as leaders with background like me were either killed or sidelined if they dared to speak,” he said, claiming he drew a bigger line than Kumar in “social engineering” which caused envy.