Bihar political crisis: Nitish Kumar’s election illegal says Patna High Court

Patna: The Sharad Yadav – Nitish Kumar induced political crisis in Bihar on Wednesday took a new turn as the Patna High Court stepped in and declared former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s election as leader of JD (U) legislative party as illegal. The court also questioned the role of speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary nominating him as JDLP.

The High Court order in a PIL came hours before Nitish Kumar could meet President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi and parade 130 MLAs to support his claim of majority support. Nitish Kumar had reached New Delhi on Tuesday along with 130 MLAs.

The PIL was filed by Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi supporter Rajeshwar Raj. The High Court found that Nitish Kumar was elected without following proper procedure and commented that only the Governor of Bihar could decide the issue.

“We are relieved after the court orders; the whole exercise by Sharad Yadav has been termed as unconstitutional by the High Court. We are trying to inform the President of India and the Governor regarding the court’s order”, MLA Rajeshwar Raj said on Wednesday after the court’s order.

The leaders of the Nitish Kumar camp however indicated that they were ready to face the test on the floor of the house if they were asked to do so.

“MLAs left for Delhi as there was political crisis in Bihar and governor was not reacting. Our party leaders want the President to take stalk of the situation and pull the state out of the crisis. We are not running away from floor test”, JD (U) MLA Shrawan Kumar said.

Meanwhile the BJP who had been closely observing the developments in the state reacted immediately after the court’s order and slammed Nitish Kumar blaming him for pushing Bihar towards a constitutional crisis.

“Nitish Kumar’s lust for power has pushed the state towards turmoil and now the state is going through a political crisis. He and his supporters harassed a chief minister who failed to abide his orders”, BJP leader Vinod Narayan Jha said.

The party leaders however claimed that the court order doesn’t indicate problems for Nitish Kumar as he may be asked to face the test on the floor of the house. They said that the majority was on his side and he may easily once again prove his might.

“Court has not said anything against Nitish Kumar, it has just raised questions against the speaker recognizing him as the leader of the house and the process through which he was chosen, he has the majority and he can prove it”, JD (U) leader PK Shahi said on Wednesday.