Nitish Kumar returns, JD(U) sacks Jitan Ram Manjhi as Bihar CM

Jitan Ram Manjhi has been sacked as the Chief Minister of Bihar, paving the way for Nitish Kumar to take the reins of the state again. Nitish Kumar was unanimously voted as leader of the house, which effectively means that he is now the Chief Minister of Bihar again. Kumar had resigned in the wake of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, taking ‘moral responsibility’ for the poor performance of the JD(U) in the state. Manjhi, who was close to Kumar, was seen as a stand-in for the former Chief Minister. However, he constantly quoted controversy, with the final blow coming when he praised PM Narendra Modi, leading to ally Lalu Prasad Yadav also strongly signalling his displeasure and asking for Nitish to retake the post. Last-minute patch up efforts between  Manjhi and his party JD(U) also failed today, prompting the Chief Minister to go ahead with proposing the dissolution of the Assembly, which was overwhelmingly rejected by Cabinet ministers at a meeting in Patna. The proposal for dissolving the Assembly was supported by seven ministers besides Manjhi, while 21 pro-Nitish Kumar ministers opposed it, state Finance Minister Bijendra Yadav told reporters. The proposal to dissolve the Assembly was moved by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh at the meeting attended by all 29 state ministers. Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and PK Shahi did not attend after Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi accepted the Chief Minister’s recommendation to dismiss them as ministers, earlier in the day. [caption id=“attachment_2085613” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manjhi’s proposal to dissolve the assembly was not accepted: PTI[/caption] Food Minister Shyam Rajak, a close confidante of Kumar, told reporters that those who sided with Manjhi and approved the proposal to dissolve the assembly were Narendra Singh, Brishen Patel, Binay Bihari, Shahid Ali Khan, Nitish Mishra, Bhim Singh and Mahachandra Prasad Singh. The cabinet meeting took place immediately after Manjhi’s nearly two-hour meeting with Kumar, which was seen as last-ditch effort for a patch up between the two warring groups in the party. Manjhi, who has been defying the party leadership’s directive to resign, drove to the residence of Kumar, his mentor, with whom he has been locked in the tussle. The meeting at Kumar’s residence was also attended by JD(U) President Sharad Yadav. Senior pro-Manjhi ministers Narendra Singh and Brishen Patel accompanied the Chief Minister in his car. Narendra Singh, a senior JD(U) leader who is the agriculture minister, had reportedly set the ball rolling on talks. He visited Kumar’s residence around 11 AM and then the CM’s residence before accompanying Manjhi to Kumar’s residence. Labour minister Dulal Chand Goswami, who also met Manjhi, told reporters that the two leaders (Kumar and Manjhi) would hammer out a solution. Another minister Binay Bihari, a Manjhi supporter, told reporters outside the CM’s residence that he was not in favour of a dissolution of the assembly. JD(U) General Secretary K C Tyagi, a supporter of Sharad Yadav, blamed BJP for triggering the crisis in the JD(U) government. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have written the script of the goings on in Bihar.” He said Manjhi’s closeness to BJP and his praise for Modi was making him do all that he was doing. Amid the power tussle in JD(U), senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today left for Delhi to apprise the party’s central leadership on the political situation. Before leaving for Delhi, he held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav, state party president Mangal Pandey and others at his residence. Nand Kishore Yadav said the BJP was keeping a watch over the situation and would take a decision after taking stock of the prevailing environment. “The event is happening within ruling JD(U). Let us see what happens there ultimately,” he told reporters. BJP has 87 members in the 243-member state Assembly. PTI