Amid a political standoff in the politically crucial state of Bihar, a cautious Central government in a fallout from a heavy drubbing in the Delhi assembly elections, has decided not to meddle in affairs and let the the crisis find a way out on in the state assembly.
Amid a political standoff in the politically crucial state of Bihar, a cautious Central government in a fallout from a heavy drubbing in the Delhi assembly elections, has decided not to meddle in affairs and let the the crisis find a way out on in the state assembly.
The government is understood to have sought the attorney general's opinion on the constitutional position on Bihar, even as former chief minister Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar paraded all his 130 MLAs before president Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to advise the state governor to take an immediate decision on claiming that any delay will pollute the atmosphere in the state and encourage "horse trading".
Sources said that the Central government advised governor Kersi Nath Tripathi to prepone the budget session in Bihar to February 16, instead of February 20 so to allow both sides to show their trial of strength on the floor assembly.
The BJP is, however, working on chief minister Jatin Ram Manjhi to get 28-30 MLAs on its side to turn the tables on Nitish Kumar. The BJP has 91 MLAs and can count on three others of the Lok Janshakti Party of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan to try its hand in the floor test.
Nitish Kumar, who was accompanied by JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, took the 130 MLAs to the president's House to show that he enjoys majority support in the state assembly.
Addressing reporters after meeting the president, Nitish alleged that there was "a gameplan to impose president's rule in the state."
The president heard all the issues and at the end said that we will look into the matter," former CM said when asked about Mukherjee's reaction.
"There is a clear majority on one side. In Patna, we paraded 130 MLAs and they stand here with me and one can see where the majority is. Despite this, not paving the way for the formation of the government is an injustice and playing with democracy," the former chief minister said.
Meanwhile, in a major setback to Nitish Kumar, Patna high court on Wednesday passed an interim order staying his election as Janata Dal (United)'s state legislature party leader on Monday.
He had staked claim before the Governor for forming the government and chose to rush to Delhi to parade all supporting 130 MLAs before the President after finding the Governor's reluctance to accept his demand. Claiming the support of MLAs in the 243-member Assembly, Nitish Kumar had even paraded them at Raj Bhavan, offering to prove his majority also on the floor of the House.
A senior JD(U) leader said Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi leader, had personally picked up his SC minister Manjhi belonging to a most backward dalit caste of Musahar as the CM but acted swiftly after getting whiff of Manjhi conspiring with BJP president Amit Shah to defect with a group of MLAs. He said Shah's gameplan was to re-install Manjhi as the CM even without his re-election to the House since the Assembly elections are due in any way in October.
Manjhi is a master party hopper. He was with the Congress till 1990 and since then shifted to Janata Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad and then to JD(U). He has been also a minister under seven chief ministers, including Lalu Prasad and his wife.
Those in his camp claim he has the number to prove his majority in the assembly to frustrate attempts of Nitish Kumar to dislodge him and reclaim the chair. He is reportedly coordinating with senior BJP leader Sushil Modi, who was a deputy chief minister in the Nitish Kumar government until the BJP and JD(U) parted company in 2013, to carry out the strategy planned by Shah to take on the grand alliance of JD(U), RJD, Congress and NCP.
Both Nitish Kumar and chief minister Manjhi are claiming the majority while the governor has refused to take a stand on their claims, nor has he obliged Manjhi by heeding his advice to dissolve the assembly. On the face of it, the BJP is pretending to steer clear of the mess by not backing any side, though it is glee that the tug-of-war in the JD(U) will badly hit the image of Nitish Kumar and that too so near the assembly elections.
A BJP leader said that Nitish Kumar has already sullied his image by siding with tainted leaders like Lalu Prasad. Taking a lesson from the rout by AAP in Delhi, BJP plans to work out a new strategy for Bihar, launching a positive campaign and seeking people's support on the basis of the performance of its ministers in the erstwhile Nitish Kumar government.
The party hopes to also gain from the most backward dalits in the state by parading Manjhi in its rallies to show how Nitish Kumar is anti-Dalit, the BJP leader added.
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