The battle lines have shifted in Bihar. The question being asked in the state is not just who will emerge victorious in the fight between Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar and beleaguered Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. It is whether this political tussle will snowball into a constitutional crisis.
Fuelling the question is the fact that Keshari Nath Tripathi, the West Bengal governor who holds the additional charge of Bihar, was conspicuously absent for the first three days of the crisis. On Monday, the fourth day of the drama, he arrived in Patna and separately met with the support group led by Nitish Kumar, Manjhi and Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary.
After that Tripathi, once a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, departed for New Delhi.
During the day, the Raj Bhawan remained the centre of political activity with both Nitish Kumar and Manjhi staking parallel claims to power before the governor. The JD(U) has sacked Manjhi and elected Nitish Kumar as the leader of its legislature party.
Nitish Kumar, in a show of strength, paraded 130 MLAs belonging to the JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Communist Party of India. Giving him company at the parade also were JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Nitish later told reporters: “The decision should be made on immediate basis, within 24 to 48 hours. We will wait for the decision and if not given a chance, we will take our support groups to meet the president in Delhi.”
Counting options
Soon thereafter Manjhi met the governor and declared that he would prove his majority on the floor of the House. He, however, sought an extension to achieve this. “Whenever you direct us for the floor test, be it February 19, 20 or 23, we will prove our majority on the floor of the Assembly,” Manjhi said he told the governor.
The governor’s last high-profile meeting was with Chaudhary. According to sources, the governor listened to the Assembly Speaker and said nothing in response. Chaudhary was fielded by the JD(U) as its candidate in the Jamui constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Realistically, there are two options before the governor now that Nitish Kumar has submitted a letter of support of 130 MLAs, 13 more than the majority figure of 117. One, he may give Manjhi, who is working in tandem with the BJP, the time he has asked for to prove his majority. That will end up jeopardising the Assembly’s budget session, which is scheduled to start on February 20. Two, the governor may accede to Nitish Kumar’s demand and ask Manjhi to prove his majority within 48 hours or so.
Either way, once the House is convened, it is the Speaker whose ruling would become supreme. Already on Sunday, the Speaker had recognised Nitish Kumar as the leader of the JD(U) legislature party.
Countering partiality
Constitutionally, both the governor and Speaker are expected to maintain impartiality, but in practice it has hardly been so.
That is perhaps why Nitish Kumar declared after meeting the governor on Monday that if he is not given a chance to prove his majority he would take his “support groups to meet the president”. That is also why Manjhi demanded secret voting during the floor test, with representatives of both sides present during the counting.
In this fast-shifting crisis, the battle line between Nitish and Manjhi has got blurred for all practical purposes. In its stead, a new battle line is emerging between the governor and the Speaker. Though it not out in the open yet, its presence is quite palpable. And in case a dispute does erupt between the two, the political crisis in the state would take the shape of an unusual constitutional crisis.
Fuelling the question is the fact that Keshari Nath Tripathi, the West Bengal governor who holds the additional charge of Bihar, was conspicuously absent for the first three days of the crisis. On Monday, the fourth day of the drama, he arrived in Patna and separately met with the support group led by Nitish Kumar, Manjhi and Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary.
After that Tripathi, once a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, departed for New Delhi.
During the day, the Raj Bhawan remained the centre of political activity with both Nitish Kumar and Manjhi staking parallel claims to power before the governor. The JD(U) has sacked Manjhi and elected Nitish Kumar as the leader of its legislature party.
Nitish Kumar, in a show of strength, paraded 130 MLAs belonging to the JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Communist Party of India. Giving him company at the parade also were JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Nitish later told reporters: “The decision should be made on immediate basis, within 24 to 48 hours. We will wait for the decision and if not given a chance, we will take our support groups to meet the president in Delhi.”
Counting options
Soon thereafter Manjhi met the governor and declared that he would prove his majority on the floor of the House. He, however, sought an extension to achieve this. “Whenever you direct us for the floor test, be it February 19, 20 or 23, we will prove our majority on the floor of the Assembly,” Manjhi said he told the governor.
The governor’s last high-profile meeting was with Chaudhary. According to sources, the governor listened to the Assembly Speaker and said nothing in response. Chaudhary was fielded by the JD(U) as its candidate in the Jamui constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Realistically, there are two options before the governor now that Nitish Kumar has submitted a letter of support of 130 MLAs, 13 more than the majority figure of 117. One, he may give Manjhi, who is working in tandem with the BJP, the time he has asked for to prove his majority. That will end up jeopardising the Assembly’s budget session, which is scheduled to start on February 20. Two, the governor may accede to Nitish Kumar’s demand and ask Manjhi to prove his majority within 48 hours or so.
Either way, once the House is convened, it is the Speaker whose ruling would become supreme. Already on Sunday, the Speaker had recognised Nitish Kumar as the leader of the JD(U) legislature party.
Countering partiality
Constitutionally, both the governor and Speaker are expected to maintain impartiality, but in practice it has hardly been so.
That is perhaps why Nitish Kumar declared after meeting the governor on Monday that if he is not given a chance to prove his majority he would take his “support groups to meet the president”. That is also why Manjhi demanded secret voting during the floor test, with representatives of both sides present during the counting.
In this fast-shifting crisis, the battle line between Nitish and Manjhi has got blurred for all practical purposes. In its stead, a new battle line is emerging between the governor and the Speaker. Though it not out in the open yet, its presence is quite palpable. And in case a dispute does erupt between the two, the political crisis in the state would take the shape of an unusual constitutional crisis.
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