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NEW DELHI: The Janata Dal(U) had taken a decision to remove Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi at least three months ago when it became clear that he would not be able to lead the state into the Assembly elections with his apathetic governance. It was decided to replace him with party leader Nitish Kumar to give the party a fighting chance in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Manjhi was informed of the decision but it was clear from the word go that he was resistant to the idea. Efforts to persuade him to step down quietly failed, and the party moved into forward gear with little time to waste. Even as Manjhi confabulated with BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the JD(U) moved ahead with a step by step strategy. It first elected Nitish Kumar as the head of the legislature party. After giving yet another opportunity to Manjhi to resign, it moved to expel him from the party. Kumar demonstrated his strength of 130 odd legislators before the Governor and then President of India Pranab Mukherjee in a bid to foil foul play and ensure that, as per the law, the government now continues with him as chief minister.
The JD(U) leaders fear foul play in a bid by the BJP to topple the government and are making sure that all ends are covered, so that any such action falls well outside the law. The budget session of Parliament begins on February 23 with sources maintaining that the BJP will find it difficult to flout the law without being held accountable by the Opposition in Parliament.
"The Bihar crisis was scripted in Delhi. Operation Jitan Ram Manjhi has been engineered by (BJP chief) Amit Shah and it has PM Modi's blessings. Yesterday, the tone that Manjhi had used after meeting the PM cannot be that of a minority chief minister," JD(U) leader KC Tyagi told reporters.
The Janata Dal(U) that is in alliance now with Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal for the elections is optimistic that the combined vote bank will work to its advantage in these polls. Senior leaders told The Citizen that the combine has a “great chance” of defeating the Bharatiya Janata party and “this remains our major objective.” The leaders were confident that as in Delhi, other Opposition parties will support the alliance in the Assembly polls at all levels to ensure that the anti-BJP vote is not splintered, and instead consolidates behind the regional alliance.
The JD(U) and even the RJD are clear that the alliance can face the elections with greater confidence under the leadership of Nitish Kumar in what could again turn out to be a Modi versus Kumar election, given the BJP’s penchant for projecting the Prime Minister as its star campaigner. So far the election tactics of the BJP have centred around the Prime Minister, even in Delhi where the odds narrowed down to a Kejriwal versus Modi race. And this despite Kiran Bedi who was seen as little more than a ‘red herring’ by the Delhi voters.
The BJP has also started looking at Bihar, with Shah holding a meeting with the legislators and other party leaders on elections in the state. The BJP is keen to wrest Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from the regional parties, that are now sensing the danger and building alliances to prevent this plan from succeeding. Barely has the dust settled in Delhi, that the covers are being taken off Bihar for a contest that will raise national temperatures as well.
