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Unfazed by the Patna High Court ruling on Wednesday that virtually put a stay on Nitish Kumar’s elevation as the leader of the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) legislature party in Bihar in place of Jitan Ram Manjhi, Kumar, along with the MLAs, called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in a bid to show his strength in the Assembly.
Constitutional experts, however, pointed out that as long as Manjhi is not defeated on the floor of the House, he continues to be the chief minister of the state (notwithstanding he had been expelled by the JD(U)). The only option, therefore, for the Governor would be to first call Manjhi to prove his strength in the Assembly. Bihar is likely to go to polls by year-end.
While most political observers felt that the court ruling had put a spanner on Kumar's plans, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap said, “The court ruling has not made any difference to the present situation in Bihar, it is for the Governor to now decide.” According to Kashyap, only if Manjhi loses in the confidence vote, will there be a vacancy for the post of chief minister. If he is defeated and declines to resign, then only can he be dismissed, but until that time, Manjhi continues to be legislative party member.
Kumar requested Governor K N Tripathi that a Special session of the Assembly be called before the Budget session slated for February 20 to enable him to prove his numbers. Not getting a favourable response, Kumar brought his fight to the national capital.
Talking to mediapersons after meeting the President, Kumar said, “Delay in taking a decision on Bihar will pollute the atmosphere in the state and result in "horse trading". Kumar was accompanied by the united might of the Janata ‘parivaar’ — Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
Meranwhile, the BJP, chastened after its humiliating performance in Delhi, attempted to steer clear of the controversy, stating that it was “an internal matter of the JD(U)”. Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the BJP will take a decision on whether to support Chief Minister Manjhi only on the floor of the Assembly when the matter is taken up.
The day saw intense activity as Kumar met several legislators at Bihar Bhawan even as he kept a hawks eye on the legislators who had been lodged at a hotel in Greater Noida.
Meanwhile, one of the senior legislators in the delegation admitted that they were aware that Manjhi would be first asked to prove his strength and the parade in front of the President was only a gambit to preempt a situation, should they contemplate not inviting Kumar to prove his majority.
