Patna: JD(U) legislature party has elected former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its new leader.
Since Nitish loyalists have a majority in the legislature party, Kumar is expected to take over the reins of power in the state replacing the incumbent CM Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Cabinet ministers loyal to Nitish Kumar have faxed a letter to both the President and the Governor requesting them not to accept the recommendation made by Bihar CM for the dissolution of Bihar Assembly.
READ ALSO: Ditched by his ministers, CM Manjhi recommends dissolution of Bihar Assembly
Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi recommended the dissolution of state Assembly to Governor K N Tripathi.
Manjhi's recommendation for dissolution of Assembly came amid high drama at his residence when a majority of his cabinet ministers walked out of the meeting when the proposal for dissolution of Bihar Assembly was moved.
The proposal for Assembly dissolution was moved by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh which was immediately rejected by the ministers loyal to Nitish Kumar. Out of 29 ministers present at the CM residence, only 7 stayed back and the rest came out in protest to the proposal.
"The proposal for dissolving the Assembly was supported by seven ministers besides Manjhi, while 21 pro-Nitish Kumar ministers opposed it," state Finance Minister, Bijendra Yadav told reporters.
According to sources 21 ministers who opposed the proposal could be dismissed.
The problem started when minister Narendra Singh, a close confidant of Manjhi, authorized the Chief Minister to recommend dissolution of Bihar Assembly.
Ministers loyal to former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar led by Shyam Razak immediately raised their objection to the proposal.
Heated words were reportedly exchanged between Narendra Singh and Shyam Razak, a close-aide of Nitish Kumar.
Registering their protest against the proposal for Assembly dissolution, two-thirds of cabinet ministers boycotted the meeting and came out of the CM residence.
Food Minister Shyam Rajak, a close confidante of Kumar, told reporters that those who sided with Manjhi and approved the proposal to dissolve the assembly were Narendra Singh, Brishen Patel, Binay Bihari, Shahid Ali Khan, Nitish Mishra, Bhim Singh and Mahachandra Prasad Singh.
The cabinet meeting took place immediately after Manjhi's meeting with Kumar for nearly two hours of talks, which was seen as last-ditch effort for a patch up between two warring groups within JD(U).
The meeting at Kumar's residence was also attended by JD(U) President Sharad Yadav.
Earlier, CM Manjhi had recommended the dismissal of two ministers Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and P K Shahi which was accepted by the Governor K N Tripathi.
Both Lallan and Shahi did not attend the meeting. They are known to be very close to former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and were seen as leading the MLAs opposed to Bihar Chief Minister Manjhi.
Meanwhile, the BJP has blamed Nitish Kumar for engineering the present political crisis in Bihar and accused him of insulting CM Manjhi.
“Nitishji is responsible for political crisis in Bihar, he ended alliance with BJP, vouched for Manjhi ji and now he is insulting Bihar CM,” said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.
