Patna: In yet another sign of deepening political crisis in Bihar, the sources on Tuesday said that Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar is expected to visit New Delhi on Wednesday and parade all 130 MLAs supporting him before the President to further consolidate his claim to the chief minister's chair.
As per reports, Nitish is expected to visit the national capital along with all 130 MLAs and meet the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow.
The development came shortly after it was reported that Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi had called a cabinet meeting this evening, throwing indications that he nay recommend dissolution of the state assembly.
"Manjhi has called a meeting of his cabinet at 4 pm today. Though the agenda is not known, he may take some big decisions, including recommending dissolution of the state assembly," an official in the chief minister office said.
Despite being expelled from the Janata Dal (U), Manjhi has refused to quit and insists that he remains chief minister till he fails to prove his majority in the state assembly. A Janata Dal-United leader close to Manjhi, however, said he "may or may not recommend dissolution of the state assembly, but by holding a cabinet meeting, he wanted to send a strong massage that he is still a chief minister".
In the last cabinet meeting on Feb 7, senior Bihar minister Narendra Singh had proposed dissolution of the assembly responding to which 21 of the 28 ministers had walked out.
These ministers were considered close to former chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The battle lines have clearly been drawn as Manjhi, expelled from the ruling JD-U yesterday, sought to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly and his predecessor, Nitish Kumar, staking claim to form the government, accused Manjhi of "horse-trading".
Things came to a boil on Monday when Nitish Kumar met Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi and formally staked claim to form the government. He, along with 130 legislators of his JD-U, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the Communist Party of India marched to Raj Bhavan.
Manjhi, hand-picked by then chief minister Nitish Kumar as his replacement when he quit last year after the JD-U's rout in the Lok Sabha polls, also met the Governor and sought to prove his majority in the assembly but by "secret ballot".
In the 243-member Assembly, the JD-U has 115 legislators - most of whom are reportedly with Nitish Kumar. It is backed by 24 legislators of the RJD, five of the Congress, two Independents and one from the CPI.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 88 legislators and is supported by three Independents.
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