Former Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar along with party president Sharad Yadav, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav met President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday to discuss the unstable situation in the state.
After his meeting with the president, Nitish addressed the media and said: "Formation of government in the state should not be delayed further. We want to be fair to everybody, so give the current government a chance to prove majority. If they can prove it in the House let them form a government. We told Mr President that we enjoy a majority in Bihar. The process should be fast tracked. Deliberate delay is causing loss and government isn't able to work," reports Firstpost.
Nitish also lashed out at the BJP, accusing the party of trying to get president's rule imposed in the state. "BJP is worried. Till yesterday they blamed me for everything. They wanted to created confusion and problem in Bihar. But now they are alienated. They have been cornered in Delhi and it has showed them their real place," he said.
"We told him (president) not to wait till budget session; in budget session the budget should be put forth by the ruling government at that time. We want no deliberate delay in the matter. President has assured us that he will look into the matter," the former Bihar CM added.
Nitish said 130 legislators supporting him in the 243-member Bihar assembly belonged to his own party, the RJD, the Congress and the Communist Party of India. The legislators were brought to Rashtrapati Bhavan in buses.
Bihar is facing a political crisis following JD-U's decision to re-elect Nitish Kumar as its legislature party leader and expel Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi from the party.
Manjhi, who has refused to step down, has said the test of majority should be conducted on the floor of the house through "secret ballot".
He was hand-picked by Nitish Kumar to replace him as chief minister last year following the JD-U's rout in the Lok Sabha.
(With IANS inputs)
