PATNA--Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi raised the flag of rebellion higher on Friday, declaring an “all-out war” on the JD(U) leadership, and describing his predecessor Nitish Kumar as the JD(U)’s “Bhisma Pitamah” who had “shut his eyes to the drift in the party”.
The JD(U) leadership, which wants Manjhi to hand back power to Nitish Kumar on Saturday, threatened to throw him out of the party if he did not resign. Manjhi, who has refused to step down, announced he would leave for New Delhi at 5 pm to attend a meeting of the NITI Aayog.
A day after the chief minister declared he would not attend the planned meeting of JD(U) MLAs on Saturday, five ministers threw their weight behind him. Narendra Singh, Brishen Patel, Nitish Mishra, Mahachandra Prasad Singh and Vinay Bihari warned that removing Manjhi would damage the JD(U) beyond repair.
The chief minister himself told reporters in Saharsa: “The war has begun, and it will be an all-out war now. Nitishji is the Bhisma Pitamah.” Late in the evening, he recommended to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi the dismissal of two members of his ministry considered the closest to Nitish — Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, and P K Sahi.
In Patna, rival groups of Manjhi and Nitish supporters clashed in front of the party office, leading to over a dozen people suffering minor injuries. The supporters of Manjhi, including several Dalit women, described the attempt to remove him as “an insult” to Mahadalits, and threatened more protests. They burnt top JD(U) leaders in effigy, and attempted to lodge protests with party national president Sharad Yadav.
Sharad himself shot off a letter to Governor Tripathi, asking him not to “consider” any proposal from Chief Minister Manjhi, as he “will be removed as legislature party leader tomorrow”.
The Nitish camp had several rounds of meetings with party MLAs. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shravan Kumar claimed to have invited 111 JD(U) MLAs for Saturday’s legislature party meeting.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad reiterated his party’s support to Nitish. “Manjhi’s continuance (as CM) is hurting secularism (because of the CM’s alleged BJP leanings). Nitish is a good person, and we support him,” Lalu said.
The RJD has 24 MLAs. The Congress (5) too has reiterated its support to Nitish. The JD(U) has 116 MLAs in the 243-member House.
Manjhi has said Saturday’s planned meeting of JD(U) MLAs is “unconstitutional” because he alone as legislature party leader is competent to convene such a meeting.
The Indian Express
