Bihar crisis: Nitish Kumar to be sworn in as chief minister on Sunday

Patna: Nitish Kumar will get back the reins of Bihar on Sunday, capping a fortnight-long political drama which ended in an anti-climax with rebel JD(U) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi resigning as chief minister shortly before the floor test on Friday sensing imminent defeat. [caption id=“attachment_2112565” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. Reuters[/caption] “The Governor accepted our claim to form government and invited me to take oath in Raj Bhavan at 5 pm on February 22,” Kumar told reporters after meeting Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and staking claim to form government. Kumar, who was accompanied by RJD, Congress, CPI MLAs and an independent legislator, said he has been asked to prove his majority on the floor of Assembly in three weeks time before 16 March. His government would take a decision to call the new budget session and fix a date for the Governor’s speech in the joint session, the chief minister-designate said. A series of high-voltage political events that saw Kumar back to power after nine months began on Friday with the resignation of Manjhi who sensed the clear lack of number to pass the crucial floor test in the Assembly. Manjhi, who had been throwing a challenge to Kumar with the support of a handful of dissident JD(U) legislators and ministers and support from BJP, submitted his resignation to the Governor at 10:15 am in the morning. With politics taking centre stage, Tripathi had cancelled his inaugural speech at the joint sitting of Bihar legislature. Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary announced cancellation of the Governor’s address due to “special circumstances” and later adjourned the house sine die. This would be the fourth time that Kumar will take on the mantle of Bihar chief minister. His first stint had lasted merely a week from 3 March to 10 March in 2000 and the second from 24 November, 2005 to 24 November, 2010. The third term was from 26 November, 2010 till he resigned from his post on 17 May, 2014 in the wake of the debacle of JD(U) in the general election. He had then handpicked Manjhi to succeed him but the mentor and the protege later parted ways. To questions by reporters whether parties supporting him would be part of his new government, Kumar did not give any categorical answer. “At the moment a new government will be formed,” he said. Kumar met JD(U) president Sharad Yadav at the state guest house before going to Raj Bhavan. He had also tendered a public apology for his ‘mistake’ in quitting and appointing Manjhi in his place as chief minister. “I make a public apology to the people of Bihar and promise I will never repeat such a mistake by taking an emotional decision,” he said. Kumar, who drove JD(U) into severing the 17-year long ties with BJP, attacked the saffron party for propping up “a handful of JD(U) disgruntled elements” against him and writing the “script” of the events that took place in Bihar in recent days. “Their (BJP’s) gameplan has failed,” he said. He criticised BJP for siding with Manjhi in the expectation of dalit support. “By humiliating Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary who is also a mahadalit, have you enhanced his respect?” Ridiculing Manjhi for playing the ‘dalit card’, Kumar said it was he who had coined the term mahadalit to segregate the poorest among dalits for special welfare treatment. Manjhi skipped the inaugural session of joint sitting of Bihar legislature and told mediapersons at his residence that though he had the majority support of 140 MLAs he did not proceed ahead considering the “threat of bloodshed and harassment of MLAs siding with him.” Manjhi claimed he had decided to step down as his supporters were issued death threats and he did not want the legislators to lose their assembly membership. He claimed that a large number of JD(U) MLAs who were at Nitish Kumar’s residence had visited his house from its backdoor at around 1 AM. “There was fear on their faces and I thought I should not put them in trouble by exposing them to the Nitish Kumar camp by going ahead with trust vote and decided to quit. All his eight ministers, seven of JD(U) and one Independent, were by his side at the press conference. Manjhi claimed that 40-52 JD(U) MLAs were in his favour “but due to fear of Nitish Kumar they did not want to be seen with me and when it became clear that there will be no secret ballot I thought I shall not put them in trouble and decided to quit.” He hit out at the Speaker saying “when it became apparent that Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, who is acting on the direction of somebody, will never allow secret ballot during confidence vote, I thought it will not be wise on my part to put my supporting MLAs in danger and resigned.” Quizzed about his future course of action, Manjhi said he has called his supporters at a function in Patna on 28 February and if they urge him to form a new party he would consider it. RJD President Lalu Prasad, who was away from the scene due to the ’tilak’ ceremony of his youngest daughter with the grandson of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, expressed relief at the blowing off of the political crisis. “Manjhi has ruined his career in the hands of BJP,” he added. BJP, which had lent support to Manjhi at the last minute, described the event as “an internal fight of JD(U)” and said it did not “repent” backing him for the trust vote. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the party wanted to send out the message that it stood against the “humiliation” of a mahadalit at the hands of Nitish Kumar. “We had extended support to Manjhi and the onus of proving the majority of his government was on him … He may have resigned but he has still won,” he said. BJP has 87 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly whose effective strength at present is 233. Kumar had submitted letters of support by 130 MLAs of his party JD(U), besides RJD, Congress, CPI and an Independent. He had also paraded these MLAs in front of mediapersons in front of the Raj Bhawan when they had gone to meet Governor on 9 February. He had later taken the supporting MLAs to Delhi to meet President Pranab Mukherjee. PTI