Bihar Crisis: Nitish Kumar hits out at PM Modi, accuses him of horse-trading

Patna: JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Thursday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "encouraging" horse-trading in Bihar and alleged that the Centre "pressured" the Governor into giving the incumbent Chief Minister a long time to prove his majority so that MLAs could be "lured".

In a frontal attack on Modi, Kumar said the "script" to what is happening in Bihar was written after Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi met the Prime Minister here on February 8.

"All kinds of allurement are being made to MLAs. They are being offered ministerial chairs and even BJP tickets," Kumar said.

Kumar said "license for horse-trading" was issued in Delhi and alleged BJP's involvement. Asked if money is also being offered, he said this is being talked about everywhere.

BJP on its part rejected as malicious and baseless the allegations by its friend-turned-foe and asserted it had nothing to do with JD(U)'s internal crisis. It accused Kumar of indulging in "dirty politics" for his attack on constitutional chairs and said he should restrain his "craving for power" till February 20 when Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi has asked Manjhi to prove his majority.

Though Kumar refrained from naming Modi, Kumar made his target clear. "I am talking about the same person you are mentioning again and again," he said when asked if he was attacking the Prime Minister.

What BJP was doing was a direct attack on democratic and constitutional norms and people of Bihar will teach it a lesson similar to what voters in Delhi did, Kumar said, referring to the party's debacle in Delhi Assembly polls.

Bihar will go to polls later this year.

"First a delay (by Governor) in taking decision and then giving him (Manjhi) more time show that it is being done according to the script written in Delhi and to give adequate time to encourage horse-trading. This has been decided at the highest level." Kumar said before leaving for Patna.

"It started after Manjhi met the Prime Minister. The Governor was earlier convinced that an early floor test should be held. But things changed after Manjhi's meeting with the Prime Minister and he was pressured. The script was written here," he added.

Kumar had yesterday paraded about 130 MLAs and met President Pranab Mukherjee demanding his intervention. Leaders from RJD, Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Left had accompanied him during the meeting.

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Narendra Modi govt encouraging horse-trading of MLAs in Bihar: Nitish Kumar

New Delhi: Janta Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar, who will present over 130 MLAs before the President this evening to show that he enjoys majority support in the Bihar Assembly, accused the Modi government of encouraging “horse-trading” of MLAs in the state and alleged collusion by the Governor.

The former Bihar Chief Minister, who has been elected the JD(U) Legislature Party Leader in place of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, said it was obvious that a majority of MLAs supported him and alleged that the delay by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi in taking a decision was to hamper the formation of a new government.

Kumar arrived here from Patna yesterday evening, along with the MLAs supporting him, in two commercial flights.

He is scheduled to meet President Pranab Mukherjee at 7 P.M., accompanied with party president Sharad Yadav, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“The way a decision is being delayed is a clear indication that purchasing of MLAs is being done at the behest of the Centre. Intention is clear and this is to not allow formation of the majority government. We will tell the President that this will only encourage horse-trading,” he told reporters.

Kumar said his party and allies will impress upon the President on the need to take a quick action in the matter. Delaying the matter is only adding to the uncertainty and vitiating the political atmosphere in Bihar, he said.

Kumar had staked claim before Tripathi on February 9 to form a government even though incumbent Manjhi, who has been sacked from the party, insisted that he too enjoyed support of a majority of MLAs.Whatever is happening in the state is against democratic and constitutional norms, he said.

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JD(U) accuses BJP of plotting split in party, BJP hits back

New Delhi: Grappling with a crisis within, JD(U) on Sunday accused BJP of plotting a split in the party, a charge denied by the saffron party which said the entire crisis was triggered by former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's "obsession" for power.

JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi suggested that Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was working at the BJP's behest and said he had no right to attend the NITI Aayog meeting in the national capital as he no longer enjoyed the confidence of the majority of MLAs after JD(U) lawmakers elected Nitish Kumar as their new leader in Patna on Saturday.

Asked about Manjhi's scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening, Tyagi said, "The fact is BJP President Amit Shah is working overtime to engineer a split in our party, like he is doing with TMC. He has failed... " "If the need arises, we will parade 130 MLAs before the governor or even the President," he told PTI.

A belligerent Manjhi has refused to step down from the chief minister's post after terming the party's meeting yesterday "unconstitutional". He is said to be exploring possibility of getting the BJP's support to remain in the top post.

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