Nitish back as Bihar CM, Manjhi removed from JD(U)

Kumar's election brought the state back from the brink of a constitutional crisis of President's rule

Bihar on Saturday got a new chief minister, with Nitish Kumar returning to the post. This followed the Janata Dal United, or JD(U), legislature party elected him its new leader and removing Jitan Ram Manjhi from the party.

Kumar’s election brought the state back from the brink of a constitutional crisis, as Manjhi had recommended dissolution of the Bihar Assembly at a cabinet meeting earlier on Saturday. However, only seven ministers present at the meeting endorsed the proposal and 21 opposed it and proposed Manjhi’s mentor and former chief minister, Nitish Kumar, be brought back as CM.

Manjhi’s refusal to accept this had led to a situation where Bihar, at one stage, had two claimants to the chief ministership.

Earlier, two ministers, PK Shahi and Rajiv Ranjan Singh (both supporters of Kumar), were sacked by Manjhi after a rift with Kumar turned into a full-scale war.

The day started with an ominous promise of discord. A meeting at Nitish Kumar’s residence, where Manjhi and two ministers supporting held talks with Kumar, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and state party president Vashishtha Narain Singh, soon turned into an ugly confrontation. At the meeting, Kumar and his supporters said Manjhi should step down from the chief minister’s post, as his performance had been way below par, his statements rash and thoughtless and his government unresponsive and non-performing. In view of the elections in Bihar later this year, Manjhi was told the mandate wasn’t for him.

Manjhi, however, refused and presented his own set of demands: that he be made the face not just of the JD(U), but of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-JD(U) combine, which meant Lalu Prasad, who has deep reservations about him, must also endorse him. He also asked Kumar to rein in his supporters who had been blunt in their criticism of Manjhi, and sought these supporters be publicly censured by Kumar.

When neither side agreed to the other’s demands, those present dispersed, resolving to meet again at 2 pm. In the meantime, both leaders and their supporters held meetings at their respective residences to chart out strategies.

In view of the crisis, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held its own set of meetings, though it was split internally: while one set of BJP legislators sought to provide outside support to Manjhi, even if for a few months, to cash in on the Mahadalit vote, others thought supporting him and an inefficient government would taint the BJP and so, sought President’s Rule in the state.

The BJP, for the obvious reason of organisational unpreparedness, stressed elections must be held on schedule (November).

At 4 pm, a meeting of cabinet ministers was held. State finance minister Bijendra Yadav said Jitan Ram Manjhi had proposed dissolution of the Bihar Assembly.

Meanwhile, at a meeting called by Nitish Kumar, it was decided Manjhi, along with other (mostly upper caste) ministers, be removed from the party for indiscipline and collaborating with the BJP. At the meeting, Kumar was elected the party's leader. Of the 111 JD(U) MLAs, 97 backed Kumar.

The Bihar Assembly has 10 vacancies. While the BJP has 87 seats, the RJD has 24, the Congress five, and the Communist Party of India one. Besides, there are five independents. Both the RJD and the Congress backed Kumar.

Bihar Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi, also the governor of West Bengal, has rushed to Patna to assess the situation. The BJP's Sushil Modi is likely to travel to Delhi to brief party president Amit Shah about the goings-on in Patna. It is likely rather than supporting Manjhi, the BJP will opt to stay out of the fracas and press for elections to be held when scheduled. To address the issue, a late-evening meeting was held at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in Delhi.