Patna, Feb. 17: The BJP appears to be reconciled to the fact that Jitan Ram Manjhi does not have the numbers to remain the chief minister and Nitish Kumar would unseat him.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today expressed his dissatisfaction over Manjhi taking policy decisions amid political turmoil in the state. He also stressed that should Nitish become the chief minister again, he too should desist from making announcements that cannot be fulfilled because 2015 is an election year.

'Taking policy decisions in the fag end of the tenure is wrong. Implementing any policy decision takes three years and this is an election year,' he told reporters today.

According to the BJP sources, the party would not mind Nitish becoming the chief minister again. 'What can he do in an election year? His whole concentration would be on the polls. Besides, Lalu Prasad will be breathing down his neck,' said a senior BJP leader.

The BJP has maintained that any government run in association with the RJD would be jungle raj (lawlessness) 2.

Describing Nitish as a 'clever' leader, Modi said: 'In 2000, Nitish ji resigned from the Union ministry to become the chief minister of Bihar despite knowing he did not have the majority. This time, he is seeking the ouster of Manjhi to become the chief minister himself because he wants to settle the issue of who would be the chief ministerial candidate for the next Assembly elections with the RJD chief, Lalu,' said Modi. 'It is like a captain asking a player of his team to retire from the crease while the latter is hitting sixes,' he said.

Modi ridiculed the claim of Nitish that Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was encouraging horse-trading by giving Manjhi seven days to prove his majority. He distributed the cover pages of the speech made by then Governor Vinod Chand Pande and the budget speech of Nitish tabled inside the Assembly on March 10, 2000 - the day Nitish moved a confidence motion inside the Assembly.

'Even then, Nitish was given seven days to prove his majority. Before he moved the confidence motion, the then governor delivered his speech. The budget speech of Nitish was also tabled. But now Nitish is objecting to the governor's speech before Manjhi seeks trust vote,' Modi said.

The senior BJP leader recalled that on March 10, 2000 the issue related to the Leader of Opposition was not settled and nobody took the seat. 'But the current Speaker is deciding the matter before the confidence motion has been undertaken. The whole thing is being scripted from the Speaker's chamber,' Modi said, describing the meeting called by the Speaker as an eyewash.

Modi described reports that the RSS would decide the BJP's poll strategy in Bihar as 'concocted'. 'The state BJP is quite capable of chalking out its poll strategy,' he said.