On a day of hectic political activity in Patna and Delhi, beleaguered Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi placed his bet on luring MlAs from Nitish Kumar's camp with offers of ministerial berths to prove his majority in the Assembly with the backing of the BJP. But that seemed to be a tall order because neither was the BJP enthusiastic about propping a "ragtag" regime nor did the legislators seem ready to risk an uncertain future with Assembly elections just six months ahead.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, Manjhi dropped clear hints about his plan to woo MlAs from the Nitish camp and went to the extent of saying he could appoint two Deputy Chief Ministers.
The Nitish camp is confident that Manjhi will not be able to cause any split in the party when the former Bihar Chief Minister has the backing of 130 MlAs, including those from the RJD and Congress, and could provide a stable Government. "Manjhi should stop daydreaming. He cannot lure even one of our MlAs," JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh told The Pioneer over phone.
Sources said that a section of the BJP feels that the party could face adverse consequences in Bihar if it helps Manjhi to remain in the saddle. "If we help Manjhi to rule the way he is doing, we are bound to be held responsible for everything that will go wrong in the State before the polls. The best option for us will be to go for early polls by persuading Manjhi to recommend dissolution of the House and see how events unfold after that," said a senior BJP leader from Bihar.
"We have placed our views before the central leadership. let us see what decision is taken in Delhi," he added. In the event the BJP does not follow Manjhi's script the Mahadalit leader could float a regional party and then explore his options for alliance in the Assembly elections, said a leader close to him.
Manjhi got a setback of sorts when the Governor did not accept his recommendation to sack 15 Ministers and instead accepted their resignations along with those of five others. This is being interpreted as a sign that Raj Bhawan may have taken cognizance of the fact that the Chief Minister does not enjoy the support of majority of the legislators and the Cabinet.
Under these circumstances, late on Sunday evening top Bihar BJP leaders and Central Ministers from the State met to discuss the development and options for the BJP, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The BJP leaders feel they must be seen on the side of Manjhi for the sake of the Mahadalit constituency , but at the same time, they should not help him remain afloat as Chief Minister.
Manjhi who has the support of a mere dozen JD(U) MlAs, including Ministers, is banking heavily on the BJP's support but the saffron party has only 87 MlAs and the CM needs the support of a minimum of 117 members in the Assembly to prove his majority. The BJP wants him to have the support of at least 30 legislators of his own party.
In the 243-member Assembly, JD(U) has 111 MlAs, BJP 87, RJD 24, Congress five besides five Independents, while ten seats are vacant. With the present effective strength of the Assembly at 233, the magic figure is 117.
The BJP leaders were also upset with Manjhi's hard bargaining, and his refusal to speedily recommend dissolution of the State Assembly. The Chief Minister, sources said, wanted a clear "deal" that will allow him to continue as caretaker CM, a proposal that most BJP leaders felt would be politically "disadvantageous" for the party in the State Assembly polls.
After his meeting with the PM, Manjhi said he will step down only after he fails to prove majority on the floor of the House. He said the BJP was welcome to support him but claimed he did not discuss politics in his meeting with Modi but told him to support Bihar in its "current" situation so that it could develop.
"Assembly is the place to prove majority. I have already written to the Governor for convening Budget Session of the Assembly. I will prove my majority on February 19 or 20. If Nitish Kumar has the numbers, why is he unduly worried. If they prove I do not have numbers, I will step down," he told reporters soon after meeting Modi. Attacking Nitish, he said the former Bihar Chief Minister was happy as long as he was a "rubber stamp" but when he began acting independently, he began plotting his removal.
"I know he is a good man. But he cannot live without power. He thought I am a Mahadalit and of average intellect. For 34-35 years in politics, I played a dumb as leaders with background like me were either killed or sidelined if they dared to speak," he said, claiming he drew a bigger line than Kumar in "social engineering" which caused envy.
Playing the Dalit card and mounting pressure on the BJP to support him, Manjhi said it was time for all political parties to decide if they stood for the poor and Mahadalits and said he would expand his Cabinet soon. Placing his options on the table he said: "I can have 16-17 more Cabinet Ministers and as many Parliamentary Secretaries. I may have two Deputy-Chief Ministers and one of them will be "certainly" a Muslim, he said.
Initiating the process of Government formation under Nitish, State JD(U) president Bashistha Narayan Singh accompanied by leaders of RJD, Congress, CPI and an Independent MlA visited Raj Bhawan and submitted the letters of support. The Governor will arrive here on Monday. "Nitish Kumar will himself meet the Governor to formally stake claim to form the Government," Singh told reporters after emerging from Raj Bhawan.