Patna/Lucknow, Feb. 13: The political battle in Bihar today escalated into a no-holds-barred verbal war with Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi striking out at the Janata Dal United and its leader Nitish Kumar, saying they were piling "unconstitutional pressure" on him to remove chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Tripathi, who was in Kanpur on a private visit, said Nitish "wanted me to remove Manjhi within 24-48 hours".
"You cannot change a chief minister overnight. The JDU leader is very anxious to become the chief minister but it is not good for democracy," Tripathi said.
Nitish reacted sharply to the governor's charge. "I am not a man in a hurry nor do I lack confidence in my MLAs. Manjhi is taking Bihar on a destructive path. The governor should say who is responsible for it. By issuing statements, the governor is trying to send a message to the MLAs," Nitish said this evening.
The JDU leadership said such remarks did not behove a governor. "Governor holds a constitutional post. His statement defies the stature of the post," said Vijay Chaudhary, JDU's leader in the Assembly.
"When we initially talked to the governor, he told us the situation in Bihar should be resolved before February 20, the scheduled budget session of the House. But now he has gone back on his word and allowed Manjhi to prove his majority in the House on February 20," he added.
The governor defended his decision of fixing the floor test date on February 20, saying it was done in accordance with constitutional provisions and after going through several Supreme Court rulings.
"The February 20 date had already been fixed for start of the budget session of the bicameral legislature. It was deemed fit to hold the floor test on that day," Tripathi said.
The JDU, he alleged, was "trying to put unconstitutional pressure" on him to advance the date. "One should wait for it. I have taken this decision with due deliberation of law," Tripathi insisted. "Let the Assembly decide once and for all on February 20 on who will be the chief minister. It is not good to indulge in a political blame game over this," he said.
The governor, who was Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for a long time, especially in the politically turbulent days of the late nineties, said: "I have always worked in accordance with constitutional norms and ethics and no one can force me to do anything illegal."
Tripathi also reacted to criticism by Nitish, that the date was delayed deliberately to allow horse-trading, as "unfair".
"(Nitish) Kumar is free to say anything," Tripathi said. "I did not delay the decision at all. They asked me for a decision on February 9. I responded quickly on February 11 and decided on February 20 as the date for the floor test. How can one call it a delay? It is unfair to call it a delay," he added.
Former minister P.K. Shahi dubbed the governor's letter directing the Speaker how to hold the floor test "illegal and unconstitutional, worth consigning in the waste paper basket." The former advocate-general told The Telegraph: "The rules and regulations of the Bihar Assembly are derived from Article 208 of the Indian Constitution. In matters related to house proceedings, the Speaker is the final authority and not even the President of India has the right to give a direction to the Speaker."
The bitter exchange is a pointer to what lies ahead in the run-up to February 20. Each camp has reached out to the law, demanding action against the other. The JDU wants Manjhi probed for his reported statement that he (Manjhi) took money. Manjhi supporters in turn demanded action against Nitish for his purported remarks daring the government to arrest Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary for alleged involvement in the murder of a former MP around a decade ago.
The judiciary is also expected to be moved with a petition to be filed in the high court pleading for the Speaker's removal for his "bias" in favour of Nitish. Nitish loyalists are also poised to file a petition in the same court questioning the decisions of the Manjhi government taken after February 7, the day he was removed as leader of the JDU legislature party.
