Bihar Crisis: BJP Likely to Support Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi During Trust Vote, Say Sources

The BJP is expected to give its Bihar unit the go ahead to support  chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in a trust vote that he will seek in the state assembly tomorrow, sources have said. A formal BJP decision is expected after a meeting in Patna at 6 pm today.

At a closed door party meeting yesterday, the BJP said, there was consensus among its Bihar legislators that they should support Mr Manjhi. That sentiment will be conveyed to the leadership in Delhi by Bhupendra Yadav, who is in charge of Bihar.

Legislator after legislator reportedly favoured supporting Mr Manjhi at the meeting because, they argued, the Mahadalit leader has been "insulted" by Nitish Kumar, who wants to make a comeback as chief minister.  

The BJP, sources said, is not particularly keen to ensure a win for Mr Manjhi, who is accused of poor governance and has regularly made controversial statements. But with elections due in Bihar later this year, the party reckons it can earn brownie points by being seen to back a Mahadalit - one of the poorest and most underprivileged castes in Bihar.

It calculates that even with the support of its 87 legislators, Mr Manjhi is unlikely to make the half-way mark at 117 in the assembly tomorrow.

The chief minister is said to have the support of 12 JDU legislators and that of three Independents and looks good to deliver 102 ayes in his support if the BJP backs him.

The rest of the JDU legislators, 98 of them, support Nitish Kumar, who has a total 128 MLAs on his side.

The JDU expelled Mr Manjhi last week after he refused to resign and make way for Nitish Kumar.  

Mr Kumar alleges that Mr Manjhi's rebellion has been scripted by the BJP. Nine months ago he had handpicked Mr Manjhi to take his place as chief minister when he stepped down after his party was routed by the BJP in the national elections.

The Patna High Court will today decide whether four legislators suspended last year by the JDU can also vote tomorrow.