"Now on, I shall carry forward my struggle for the Dailit society and poor people. I still don't perceive that I have been defeated. Had there been a secret vote, at least 140 MLAs from different parties would have votes in my favour. If the governor allows me to undergo a secret voting I can still win the trust vote," he said.
"I resigned because I saw the clear possibility of the Speaker, Uday Narayan Chaudhary, resorting to cheating the Constitution in the Assembly. This morning, I found that the MLAs supporting me and I had not been allotted seats in the House. Had we gone to the House, there could have been chaos and disorder, which I avoided by putting in my papers. The constitutional propriety was thrown to the winds in my context. The JDU president, Sharad Yadav, called the legislature party meeting without taking me into confidence despite the clear-cut constitutional provision that only the chief minister can convene the legislature party meeting. The MLAs supporting me and I were under constant threat from Nitish's camp. Many of my ministers, including Narendra Singh, got threat calls. Many were offered Rs 2 to 3 crore in bribe for changing sides. But I am grateful to the MLAs supporting me because they did not trade in their imaan (honesty) for the cause of supporting a Mahadalit chief minister."
Manjhi's aides suggested that he might float a new political party comprising the JDU rebels. "We have called the meeting of our party workers and leaders on February 28 to chart out our future course of action," he said. An hour before Manjhi had to seek vote of confidence in the Assembly, he reached Raj Bhavan around 10am and submitted his resignation from the chief minister's post. Accepting his resignation, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi asked him to continue as caretaker chief minister.
Nitish met Tripathi around 4.30pm and staked claim for forming the government. The governor invited him to take oath as the chief minister at 5pm on February 22 at Rajendra Mandap in Raj Bhavan. Nitish's meeting with the governor lasted for an hour. The governor gave him three week's time to prove his majority.
