Headlines
JD-U crisis: Manjhi wants house dissolved, Nitish to stake claim Sunday
Patna, Feb 7
Bihar's ruling JD-U seemed to be
on the verge of a split Saturday, as Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi
sought dissolution of the assembly despite opposition from a majority of
his cabinet even as his predecessor Nitish Kumar was re-elected
legislature party chief and was likely to stake claim to form the
government Sunday.
Twenty ministers, considered close to Nitish Kumar, resigned Saturday following Manjhi's move, said a Janata Dal-United leader.
Nitish
Kumar, who was Saturday evening elected the legislature party leader at
a meeting attended by nearly 100 of the party's 115 legislators, will
stake claim to form the government Sunday, the leader said.
Meanwhile,
a close aide of Manjhi, who Saturday evening reached Delhi to attend
Sunday's meeting of the governing council of the NITI Aayog (which has
replaced the Planning Commission), said he may take support from the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to run the government.
"We will take
support of the BJP to run the government if there is any such need,"
minister Narendra Singh, who is considered close to Manjhi, told the
media.
In a day of fast developments, Manjhi earlier Saturday met Nitish Kumar for a "patch up" as the crisis deepened in the party.
"Manjhi
visited Nitish Kumar's official residence to discuss some issues for
patch-up and to settle issues," said a party leader.
Party
president Sharad Yadav had invited both Manjhi and Nitish Kumar for a
meeting to end the crisis in the party, the leader said.
He also held closed-door meetings with his associates including two ministers and some party legislators in the morning.
However,
at a cabinet meeting he had called ahead of the scheduled legislature
party meeting in the evening, Manjhi decided to recommend dissolution of
the state assembly.
Minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav told the
media that after minister Narendra Singh had proposed dissolution of the
assembly in the cabinet meeting, 21 of the 28 ministers walked out.
His
ministerial colleague Shyam Razak said: "Only seven ministers including
Chief Minister Manjhi supported the move in the cabinet and 21
ministers rejected the decision."
Razak and Yadav are considered close to Nitish Kumar.
According
to JD-U leaders close to Manjhi, the chief minister was set to send the
cabinet recommendation for dissolution of the Bihar assembly to
Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi.
In the legislature party meeting, Nitish Kumar was elected its new leader.
"Nearly 100 of 115 JD-U legislators attended the meeting and elected Nitish Kumar as their new leader," a JD-U leader said.
After
his election, Nitish Kumar said: "If there will be a need, we will
parade legislators in the Governor House's as numbers are with us."
Asserting
that now the battle has began for justice, Nitish Kumar, who ruled the
state from 2005 to earlier this year when he quit after the party's
debacle in the Lok Sabha election, however, admitted that assembly
elections later this year will be a big challenge for the party.
Meanwhile,
20 ministers, all loyalists of Nitish Kumar, submitted their
resignations to the principal secretary of the governor Saturday night,
party leaders said.
West Bengal Governor Tripathi, who holds the
additional responsibility of Bihar, Saturday said he was yet to receive
any communication recommending dissolution of the Bihar assembly.
"I have not received any such request so far," he told media persons in Kolkata.
In
Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday met BJP leaders to review
the developing political situation in Bihar. Party sources said those
who attended the meeting included party president Amit Shah, union
ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari
and party general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal.
Union
Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh,
blaming Nitish Kumar for the current political imbroglio in the state,
said in Shillong that the BJP has no interest in toppling the JD-U
government.
In the 243-member Bihar assembly, the JD-U is
supported by 24 legislators of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal, five
of the Congress, one from the Communist Party of India and two
independents.
The opposition BJP has 88 legislators and it enjoys the support of three independents. Five seats are vacant at present.
Nitish Kumar to blame for Bihar political imbroglio: BJP
Blaming former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for the current political imbroglio in the state, union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh Saturday said the BJP has no interest in toppling the JD-U government there."Our party's (BJP) stand is not to topple the government. We are not at all involved in destabilizing the government but Nitish Kumar is solely responsible," Singh told journalists here.
"We have nothing to do with the current political imbroglio in Bihar which is masterminded by Nitish Kumar and his aides," he added.
Asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party would support the present Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Singh, an MP from Bihar, said: "BJP's stand is not to destabilise the government of the day in Bihar. But some of the JD-U themselves are engineering political instability thus creating a hardship to the common people."
Nitish Kumar, who resigned after the debacle of the his party in the last Lok Sabha polls has been again elected as leader of the Janata Dal-United legislature party Saturday to replace Manjhi, whom he had handpicked as his successor.
Singh is in Shillong to hold a review meeting with the state government officials on the implementation of Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) in this hill state.