Kanpur (UP): Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi today said it is not right to indulge in political blame game over his decision to allow Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to seek confidence vote on February 20 as he had acted in accordance with rules.
Tripathi remarks come in the backdrop of JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar's allegation that the Governor under the Centre's pressure gave the incumbent Chief Minister a long time to prove his majority so that MLAs could be “lured”.
“A joint session of the Bihar Legislature is scheduled on February 20 for the Budget Session...it is only appropriate that a decision is taken then after a trust vote. “It was decided on January 20 itself to convene the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council on February 20, and one must wait for it,” Tripathi asserted.
When asked about Kumar's claim that the time given to Manjhi would lead to horse-trading of MLAs, he said, “Kumar is free to say anything but the public should not be misled”. “Kumar wanted that I should remove Manjhi within 24-48 hours. They asked me for a decision on February 9 and I gave it on February 11. How was it a slack on my part?
“I gave the decision in accordance with constitutional provisions and after going through several Supreme Court rulings, which took me two days. It is not good to indulge in political blame game over this,” he said while speaking to reporters at Circuit House here.
When asked to comment on allegations that he was acting at the behest of the central government, Tripathi said that it is unfortunate that the level of politics is going so down that even those with constitutional posts are being arraigned. “I took the decision only after proper deliberation and reading,” he added.
Kumar had yesterday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he was behind the move to allow Manjhi more time to prove his majority so that “horse-trading” of MLAs could be done.
Kumar on Wednesday had paraded about 130 MLAs in Delhi and met President Pranab Mukherjee demanding his intervention. Leaders from RJD, Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Left had accompanied him during the meeting. He had also demanded that a special session of Bihar Assembly be held quickly in which the Governor can ask Manjhi to prove his majority.
