Nitish to return as CM on Sunday

The JD(U) leader said the State Governor had asked him to prove his majority on the floor of the House before March 16.

Ending days of turmoil, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar was on Friday invited by Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to form the government in the State on February 22. Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

Janata Dal(United) Legislature Party leader Nitish Kumar is set to return as Bihar Chief Minister on Sunday, capping days of political instability and bitter mudslinging.

On Friday, hours before the vote of confidence, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, perhaps sensing an imminent defeat, >resigned . Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi accepted his resignation and invited Mr. Kumar to form the government and prove his majority before March 16.

As he waited for the Governor to invite him, Mr. Kumar — perhaps taking a leaf out of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s book — apologised with folded hands for quitting last year after the JD(U)’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections. “I want to assure the people of Bihar that if I get an opportunity again I will serve them in the same spirit as I did for eight-and-a-half years,” he said, stressing that “good governance was, and will, remain my priority... I also apologise for my decision to quit. I will never take an emotional decision again.”

Mr. Manjhi

>accused the Speaker of being partial . “I demanded a trust vote through secret ballot, but the Speaker did not allow it. There was an imminent threat of attack on MLAs supporting me,” he said.