Patna: After blowing hot and cold for several days and challenging his mentor-turned-rival Nitish Kumar for a show of strength, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned without seeking a vote on confidence motion on Friday morning.
Taking everyone by surprise Manjhi went to Raj Bhawan around 10 AM to submit his resignation. He met the Governor for about 15 minutes and then returned to his 1 Anne Marg residence. The Assembly was later adjourned sine die.
Manjhi's resignation came as an anti-climax as he was expected to deliver an impassioned speech in the Assembly showing his predecessor and Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar in a poor light and as a leader who was using all his might to remove a chief minister from the Mahadalit community.
Manjhi had the support of only 103 MLAs in Bihar Assembly after 87 legislators belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with four independents decided to back him. Manjhi enjoyed the support of 11 rebel JDU MLAs.
But Nitish camp had the support of 130 MLAs, way above the halfway mark of 117 in the 243-member Bihar Assembly whose effective strength is 233 due to 10 vacancies.
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