Nitish stakes claim to form Bihar govt

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday formally staked claim to form the government after a party delegation led by Bihar JD(U) president Bashishtha Narayan Singh went to Raj Bhawan and submitted a list of 130 MLAs supporting the new JD(U) Legislature Party leader.

Since West Bengal Governor Kesri Nath Tripathi, who holds the additional charge of Bihar, is scheduled to reach Patna from Kolkata on Monday, Nitish will formally meet him on Monday where he will, if asked, parade the 130 MLAs backing him.

“We have submitted a list of 130 MLAs, which includes 24 legislators from the RJD, five from the Congress and one from the CPI besides two independents,” said Bashishtha, after coming out from Raj Bhawan. Flanked by Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh and RJDLP leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the JD(U) leader said Nitish had more than the requisite strength in the 243-member House.

In the meantime, Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary on Sunday gave recognition to Nitish as the new leader of the JDULP, replacing Jitan Ram Manjhi. A letter in this regard was forwarded from Assembly secretariat to the Governor.

Earlier in the day, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav asked Manjhi to put in his papers. “As party president, Sharad ji has written a letter to Manjhi asking him to step down as the chief minister since Nitish has been elected JDULP leader,” Bashishtha said.

Meanwhile, both the camps continued to shore up the number of supporters. At least three woman MLAs – Bima Bharti, Sunita Singh and Lesi Singh – alleged that they were being pressured to support Manjhi.

“The two ministers in Manjhi Cabinet – Narendra Singh and Vinay Bihari – have been putting pressure on us to desert Nitish and join Manjhi camp,” said Bima Bharti, who was one of the 20 ministers to quit on Saturday night.