Indo-Asian News Service
Patna, Feb 9: Battlelines were clearly drawn in Bihar Monday as Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, expelled from the ruling JD-U, sought to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly even as his predecessor Nitish Kumar staked claim to form the government and accused Manjhi of “horse-trading”.
Days after Manjhi refused to quit and dug in his heels, things came to a boil Monday, with Nitish Kumar meeting Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi and formally staking claim to form the government.
“Manjhi is encouraging and horse-trading,” Nitish Kumar said outside Raj Bhavan here after he, along with Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, met the governor.
Nitish Kumar, along with 130 legislators of his JD-U, the RJD, the Congress and the Communist Party of India, marched to Raj Bhavan.
Manjhi, hand-picked by then chief minister Nitish Kumar as his replacement when he quit last year after the JD-U’s rout in the Lok Sabha polls, also met the governor and sought to prove his majority in the Assembly but by “secret ballot”.
“We, including Sharad Yadav and Lalu Prasad, have informed Governor Tripathi that majority is with us and we are ready to prove it in the Assembly any time,” he said.
Nitish Kumar said they will wait for the decision of the Governor to invite him to take oath and form the next government but warned that if the governor failed to invite him soon, they will parade their legislators before the president in Delhi.
Manjhi was still defiant. “I am not running away. I am ready to prove my majority in the Assembly whenever Governor Tripathi invites me for it,” he said outside Raj Bhawan after meeting Tripathi. P-11
