After meeting Prime Minister Modi on Sunday, embattled Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi who has now publicly crossed swords with his mentor Nitish Kumar told the media that he had sought the Prime Minister’s assistance, and felt bold to assert that he would demonstrate his majority on the floor of the Assembly on February 20. The CM also dared his opponents led by Mr Kumar, who now appears eager to displace him and return as Chief Minister, to move a vote of no-confidence. The battlelines couldn’t be more firmly drawn.
Mr Kumar was the leader of a Janata Dal (United)-BJP coalition in the state, and enjoyed national prominence. He broke with the BJP when Mr Modi was named the BJP’s PM candidate. This challenge to the BJP on the issue of “communalism” helped him re-forge links with Lalu Prasad Yadav. adding a new dimension to Bihar politics, and re-energising the “secular” camp.
When their combined forces did not do well in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar while the BJP did, Mr Kumar resigned as CM, taking moral responsibility. He installed Mr Manjhi, a virtually unknown leader, as the chief minister in the expectation that this representative of the most backward section of Bihar dalits would do his bidding. But the script has been turned on its head.
Mr Manjhi has shown he is wily and has evidently established links with the Bihar BJP to bail him out in the Assembly. This will doubtless go a long way to bolster his cause provided he can break a section of JD(U) MLAs. So, we may expect the use of carrots and sticks by both camps until the floor test is taken. There have already been clashes between the two sides on Patna streets. If Mr Kumar wishes to be chief minister again, he will have to show the numerical superiority of his faction in the Assembly.
On the face of it, the calling of a JD(U) Legislature Party meeting by the party’s president, Mr Sharad Yadav, and electing Mr Kumar as its leader in preparation for his assuming charge as CM seems dodgy. Usually, calling a legislature party meet lies in the domain of the CM or PM, and not the party president, unless a party’s constitution specifically says so.
The Assembly polls in the state are likely in November. Mr Kumar clearly wishes to be in power when that happens. As for Mr Manjhi, he will have to weigh the terms of the BJP’s support to him. Bihar is crucial to the BJP’s gameplan, and the party could try every trick to keep the initiative, especially if a win in Delhi eludes it.
