Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi addresses the media in Delhi.
As the political crisis in Bihar deepened, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, denied discussing politics but managed to keep everyone guessing. The chief minister, who has been fighting to retain his post, indicated that he would fight to the end - a floor test in the assembly, where he won't be averse to receiving "support" from anyone.
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"I am the Chief Minister and I will be here till the legislature party decides otherwise." Mr Manjhi told the media after the 40-minute meeting with PM Modi. "On the floor (of the assembly), whoever gives us support we will take it."
Mr Manjhi said he asked for PM Modi's "support" in view of the situation in Bihar. "But we were talking of development," he added.
Mr Manjhi also promised to step down if he failed to prove his majority. "If Nitish Kumar has numbers, why is he unduly worried?," he said, adding the show of strength could be held on February 20.
"Manjhi is the chief minister of 11 MLAs, he has no support of anybody else. We will parade all our MLAs in Delhi if need be," JD(U) leader KC Tyagi told NDTV. The party's letter to Governor KN Tripathi was signed by 130 lawmakers, who promised to support Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar's appointment as the chief of legislature party has been acknowledged by Bihar assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary. He will be meeting the Governor at 1.30 pm tomorrow to stake claim to the top job.
JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav appointed Mr Kumar after sacking Mr Manjhi as the leader of the party in the Bihar assembly. Mr Manjhi dubed it illegal, claiming only the legislature party leader can call such a meeting.
Hours before the JD(U) meeting that formally endorsed Mr Kumar's appointment, Mr Manjhi was authorised by a quorum of seven ministers to recommend dissolution of the assembly. Twenty ministers, loyalists of Mr Kumar, resigned in protest.
With Mr Manjhi earlier indicating that crossing over to the BJP was an option, the JD(U) claimed the crisis had been engineered by the BJP. "This entire episode has been scripted and engineered by Amit Shah and Modi," said Mr Tyagi.
"Manjhi has bit the hand that fed him. He has wronged the party. Now the party will decide. It won't stop," JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav told the media last evening.
What happens next will be decided by the Governor in consultation with the BJP-led union government. Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled to be held later this year, and the BJP, which already won Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, is hoping to add the state to its kitty.
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