Speculation rife on Manjhi ouster; Sharad arrives for meeting

There is no confirmation whether Manjhi, who had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha poll from Gaya (SC) seat, would attend the meeting at the residence of former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

    

Asked about removal of Manjhi, Sharad Yadav who arrived here told reporters at Patna airport "you fellows are saying this" and the meeting was a routine one.

    

Asked about the possibility of Nitish Kumar being made the Chief Minister again, JD(U) General Secretary K C Tyagi said "Nitish Kumar is 'sarvamanya' (all accepted) leader of the party and does not need anybody's 'sifarish' (recommendation)."

    

On the chances of Manjhi's ouster, Tyagi said "the legislature party will decide about the CM." Manjhi said "you all know from where such reports have come from. I am a CM and discharging my duty."

    

Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushil Modi suggested Manjhi to dissolve Vidhan Sabha before he was forced to quit the chair. In the 243-member Bihar House, ruling JD(U) has 115 members. It enjoys support of 24 members of RJD, 5 of Congress, 1 of CPI and two Independents which goes much ahead of magic figure of 122. BJP has 88 members and it enjoys support of 3 independents. Five seats are vacant in the House.

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Sushil Kumar Modi counters Nitish's 'conspiracy' charge in Azizpur arson

"Kumar has a habit of sniffing conspiracy in everything ...if there indeed was conspiracy behind Azizpur arson incident, then the state government must expose those people involved in it," he told reporters here.

Attacking the former chief minister for implicitly pointing to the BJP's involvement in arson incident in Azizpur village last week in which four persons were killed, Modi said that instead of indulging in blame game the state government should get the incident thoroughly probed and bring the culprits to book.
  
Taking potshot at the senior JD(U) leader for visiting Azizpur village, the former deputy chief minister said that it was the lone instance during nearly decade-long rule by his party that he had visited any strife-torn village and that too out of compulsion as his new-found ally and the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad had paid visit to that village a day earlier.

Modi also took a dig at the former chief minister's proposed visit to the national capital to campaign for the Aam Admi Party (AAP) in Delhi Assembly polls and said that Kumar's reported decision pointed to division in the Janata Parivar splinter groups amid buzz over merger as the RJD supremo had committed to campaign for the Congress.
  
Exuding confidence that the campaigning against BJP's rivals by the senior JD(U) leader and the RJD supremo will have no bearing on the outcome in the Delhi assembly polls, he claimed that former IPS officer Kiran Bedi-led BJP would sweep the Assembly polls and form government in Delhi.

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