Nitish Wins as Manjhi Throws in The Towel

PATNA:With the end of the political turmoil in Bihar, Nitish Kumar is set to take oath as the next Chief Minister at 5 pm on Sunday. Nitish, who would take oath for the fourth time as Chief Minister, would have to prove his majority on the floor of the House within three weeks.

Earlier, Nitish met Bihar Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi along with leaders of other political parties supporting him after the resignation of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi just before the Governor was to address the joint session of the State Assembly on Friday morning. Nitish, after coming out of the Raj Bhawan, said, “The governor has invited us to form the government in Bihar.” “We have been given time till March 16 to prove our majority in the Assembly,” he added.

The decision to quit came only after Manjhi camp leaders failed to bring the requisite number of MLAs to continue in power despite the support of 87 BJP MLAs. Commenting on the resignation of Manjhi, the leader of Janata Dal (United) Legislature Party, Nitish said his stand has been vindicated and added, “The BJP’s game plan has been exposed.”

Addressing the media an hour after he submitted his resignation to the Governor, Manjhi said he was extremely perturbed by the seating arrangements made by the Speaker for the joint sitting of the Assembly.

Manjhi blamed the Speaker for taking biased decisions particularly on terminating the membership of some MLAs and seating arrangements. He also explained how his ministers and MLAs were getting threats on their phones. The outgoing chief minister also feared violence on the floor of the House.

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