I apologise for quitting, Nitish tells Bihar

Awaiting invitation from the governor to form the new government, Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Friday promised good governance once he takes over as chief minister and apologised for his decision to quit last year after his party's rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

He said he was ready to lead from the front and hoped to get the governor's invitation to form the next government as he had staked claim over 10 days ago after the JD-U replaced Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi with him as Leader of the Legislature Party.

"I want to assure the people of Bihar that if I get an opportunity again I will serve them in the same spirit I did for eight and a half year. Good governance was and will remain my priority.

"I also apologise for my decision to quit. I will never take an emotional decision again. Now I am ready to lead from the front," Kumar told reporters soon after Manjhi resigned.

Flanked by leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress who are supporting him and his own JD-U, Kumar said he had already staked claim to form the government on February 8 and next day after meeting Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi in person.

"We will wait for his (governor's) decision till Friday night," he said. "I am in no hurry to form the government," he said in an apparent rebuttal to the governor's earlier comment he seemed to be in a hurry to become chief minister.

He, however, did not disclose if the RJD, the Congress, the Communist Party of India and the independent member of Legislative Assembly supporting him would be part of his government.

"Let the invitation from the governor come first. These questions will be relevant during formation of the government," a buoyant Kumar said.

Rejecting Manjhi's allegations against him, the former Bihar chief minister said he worked at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s behest and resigned because all ‘tricks’ to break the JD-U failed.

"What the BJP has done is a cruel joke with democracy. The horse (Manjhi) refused to run before the race. He had called for Budget Session on Friday but ran away without facing the House. They left no attempt to split our party but our MLAs stood together like a rock.

"All immoral works were being done on the prodding of the BJP," he said.

Photograph: PTI