Published 08:40 IST, November 15th 2020
RJD's Manoj Jha claims BJP 'managed' victory in Bihar: 'Nitish Kumar won't be CM for long'
Making a major claim on Sunday, RJD leader Manoj Jha said that Nitish Kumar is on a wafer-thin majority in Bihar and he will not last long as Chief Minister
- India News
- 3 min read
Making a major claim on Sunday, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha said that Nitish Kumar is on a wafer-thin majority in Bihar and he will not last long as the CM. Jha opined that Nitish Kumar will get the CM seat back this year only because BJP "managed" the victory for him, referring to Tejashwi Yadav's claim of hacked EVM. He accused Nitish Kumar of suppressing the people's mandate with a decree by switching from the 'Mahagathbandhan' to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2017 and said that the people of Bihar have woken up now.
"Even the NDA and the BJP must admit that if it had not been a mandate for change, Nitish Ji would not have won around 40 seats in the State Legislative Assembly. You (Nitish Kumar) are on a wafer-thin majority, that too, a managed one. A managed-majority government doesn't last long," Jha said while speaking to news agency ANI.
He said that the RJD has already approached the Election Commission of India about the low vote margins and warned Nitish Kumar of people coming to streets demanding accountability in the coming days. Commenting on Nitish Kumar's remark on LJP, Jha said he doesn't have any other option. "Nitish doesn't have an option. A person with 40 seats is looking to become the next Chief Minister. The BJP has the control and the script now," he added.
"You (Nitish Kumar) suppressed the people's mandate with a decree, but now the people of Bihar have woken up. They have seen the difference between a mandate and a decree. Now, people of Bihar will not spare you. People will now come to roads to ensure accountability," Jha said.
Tejashwi cries foul
Speaking publically for the first time two days after the Bihar Election result, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has yet again accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of tampering the poll data in favour of BJP. Addressing a press conference after meeting with Mahagathbandhan leaders at Rabri Devi's residence, Tejashwi Yadav said that BJP and Nitish Kumar should be ashamed for stealing the mandate. While Lalu's son's alliance polled almost the same number of votes as the NDA alliance overall, Tejashwi has claimed that the people of Bihar voted for Mahagathbandhan. Tejashwi Yadav has also said that if BJP doesn't fulfill their promise of providing jobs to 19 lakh people in the state till January, then he will 'fight' along with his supporters against the false promises.
Bihar Election Result 2020
The Bihar assembly elections results were declared around midnight on November 10-November 11, with the ruling coalition - NDA winning 125 in the 243-member assembly, against Mahagathbandhan's 110. Even as the contest remained neck and neck throughout the day, RJD under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, became the single largest party with 75 seats, followed by BJP's 74. While Chirag Paswan's LJP won one seat, it made a major dent in JDU's tally that has come down to 43 from 71 in 2015. The biggest clincher is Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM winning 5 seats and CPI-ML winning 12 seats. The other two left parties - CPI and CPI-M won two each. The other two alliance partners of NDA - HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.
Updated 08:40 IST, November 15th 2020