High political drama triggered by the resignation of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to subside on Sunday. The JDU legislators' meeting at the residence of the chief minister gave the semblance of consensus amidst talks of dissent and proposed the name of Nitish Kumar yet again as their leader.
Sources indicate that senior leader Narendra Singh proposed the name of Nitish Kumar as the leader in the meeting which was subsequently supported by most of the other legislators. Initially, Nitish remained adamant on the decision claiming responsibility for the route of the party in the Lok Sabha elections but later gave hints of reconsidering his decision. Even as the legislators' meeting was on, hundreds of supporters of Nitish Kumar staged protest outside his residence shouting slogans against Sharad Yadav. Sources also indicate that some of the legislators even accused Sharad Yadav of having engineered a revolt in the party.
As the drama continued in the meeting, it had ripples outside the CM's residence as well. Ramai Ram, a cabinet minister in Nitish government, was pushed and attacked allegedly by Nitsih supporters. Zee Purvaiya, a sister concern of dna, aired a sting operation in which Ramai Ram candidly accepted that Nitish was to be blamed for the route of the party in the state and that he had broken ties with the BJP at the behest of the Congress. He had also levelled serious charges of selling of tickets by the JDU. Hours after the report was aired on Zee Purvaiya, angry supporters gheraoed Ramai Ram as he came out of the meeting.
Even as the meeting of the legislators was on a delegation of BJP leaders led by former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi met the governor with three demands. Sushil Modi told the governor that the BJP had no numbers so they would not try to form the next government but wanted the governor to parade the MLAs supporting Nitish Kumar to establish beyond doubt that the government had the desired numbers. Nitish Kumar on the other hand assured his party legislators that he would take a second look at their demand and would take a final call by Monday.
As the meet concluded, Ravinder Rai, a JDU MLA who is believed to be very close to Sharad Yadav, registered his protest and said, "Mantri ki pitai aur vidhayakon se badshaluki se bahumat nahi hasil kiya ja sakta (majority can't be achieved by thrashing a minister and misbehaving with the legislators.) However, as most of the legislators kept pressing Nitish, he decided to consider the request. Speculation was rife that Sharad Yadav in connivance with Lalu Prasad Yadav would engineer a change in the leadership of the party.
The speculation has subsided. Now all eyes are set on Nitish Kumar who is expected to take a final call on Monday.
(With inputs from Saket Kumar)
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