New Delhi: JD-U leader Nitish Kumar would meet the Bihar governor today and stake claim to form the government with the support of 130 MLAs, a party leader said on Sunday.
Bihar speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary on Sunday recognised Nitish Kumar as the new JD(U) legislature party leader in place of Manjhi and the party has asked Manjhi to step down. All eyes are now on Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who reaches the state on Monday.
Initiating the process of government formation under Nitish, state JD(U) president Bashistha Narayan Singh accompanied by RJD, Congress, CPI and an independent MLA visited Raj Bhawan and submitted the letters of support.
However, incumbent chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has refused to resign and said on Sunday that he would prove his government's majority on the floor of the Assembly on February 20.
He would only resign if he fails to prove his majority, he told reporters in Delhi after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Modi-ji has done some good work for Bihar and we thanked him for that," he said.
In the 243-member assembly, JD(U) has 111 MLAs, BJP 87, RJD 24, Congress 5 besides 5 independents, while ten seats are vacant. With the present effective strength of the assembly at 233, the magic figure is 117.
97 out of a total of 111 JD(U) MLAs and 37 out of a total of 41 MLCs had unanimously chosen Kumar their new leader at a meeting convened by JD(U) president Sharad Yadav on Saturday.
Sharad Yadav submitted a letter at Raj Bhawan and said that Jitan Ram Manjhi was asked to resign from his post to clear the decks for Nitish Kumar's election.
Manjhi enjoys the support of over a dozen JD-U legislators. He is banking on the support of the BJP, which has openly come out in his favour. The BJP has 88 legislators and is supported by three independents.
