Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar will take oath as Bihar CM for the fourth time on Sunday. Nitish met Bihar Governor Kasri Nath Tripathi to stake claim to form government in the state on Friday evening a few hours after Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned as Bihar CM without going for confidence motion in the state Assembly.
With numbers on his side Nitish Kumar staked claim to form the next government and will take oath as Bihar CM for the fourth time on Sunday 5 PM.
In a huge anti-climax to the long-drawn political drama, Jitan Ram Manjhi drove to Raj Bhawan and met Governor to tender his resignation about 90 minutes before the Bihar Assembly was scheduled to meet, throwing all speculations about who has the numbers into the dustbin.
Manjhi’s unexpected decision to throw in the towel without putting up a fight despite the Bharatiya Janata Party supporting him came as a shot in the arm for Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United. Nitish has been claiming the support of 130 MLAs out of which 99 are from his party, 24 of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), five Congress legislators, one belonging to Communist Party of India and an Independent.
Mr Kumar’s public contrition echoes the apology issued by Arvind Kejriwal when he was campaigning for the Delhi election. Mr Kejriwal had “begged for the people’s forgiveness” for quitting as Chief Minister of the capital 49 days into his term. The remorse, expressed infrequently, had the desired effect. Mr Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party or AAP won a record result, which has installed them in government once again.
Mr Manjhi was chosen by Mr Kumar to replace him after their party, the Janata Dal United or JDU, crash-landed in the national election last year, winning just two parliamentary seats.
Last month, Mr Manjhi was asked to step aside to allow Mr Kumar’s return as Chief Minister as the party campaigns for the Bihar election due later this year. Mr Manjhi did not oblige, was expelled by the party, and sought a trust vote today. He quit abruptly when it was clear that he would not win.
