August 17, 2026 02:12 am (IST)
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Nitish elected JD(U) leader of house amid speculations of early polls
Patna, Feb 7 (IBNS) In a day of rapid political development in Bihar, senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar was elected the leader of the Bihar Assembly at a legislative party meeting while his bete noire, chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi recommended to the governor to dissolve the house, stoking possibility of an early election in the state.
Earlier, governor Keshari Nath Tripathi accepted Manjhi's recommendation for dismissal of two of his ministers--Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and P K Shahi.
Shortly after being elected as the new leader, Nitish Kumar told press conference that there was a restlessness amongst party members on the way things were on in the state.
"Party workers were not ready, but I thought since I worked for the party for so long, we have decided to go amongst the people," the former chief minister said.
"Our attempt now is to win the trust of the people again," he added.
Earlier in the day, Manjhi met party President Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar ahead of a cabinet meeting and agreed to toe the party line by quitting as CM to pave way for the comeback of Nitish.
Manjhi's meeting with Kumar for nearly two hours of talks, which raised hopes for a patch-up between the two camps.
Manjhi was named as Bihar CM on May 17, 2014 after Nitish resigned following the party's electoral drubbing in the last Lok Sabha polls.
His decision to quit came after 104 out of 115 party MLAs gave their written support in favour of Nitish.
But he played a new card at the cabinet meeting by proposing dissolution of the state Assembly, which, however, was opposed by two-thirds of the legislators present at the meeting.
The proposal for dissolving the Assembly was supported by seven other ministers, while 21 pro-Nitish Kumar ministers opposed it, state Finance Minister Bijendra Yadav told reporters.
Food Minister Shyam Rajak, a close confidant of Nitish Kumar, said those who at the cabinet meeting supported 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 was not attended by Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and P K Shahi, the two ministers dismissed by the governor following Manjhi's recommendation.
Reports said the two ministers had recently protested against the transfer of IAS officers by Manjhi in alleged violation of rules. They are also said to be close to Nitish Kumar who has now turned a foe for Manjhi.
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