Nitish says he erred in handpicking Manjhi as CM

With his handpicked Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi challenging him, Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said he had erred in taking the decision to choose his successor.

“Manjhi himself has talked about this ... that had I lost sense that I chose him,” he told reporters in Patna.

Kumar justified his decision to resign as the Chief Minister in the wake of the drubbing faced by JD-U in the general election last year, though his decision in choosing his successor went wrong.

“I had taken the decision to appoint him (Manjhi) with good intention at that point of time, though after eight months it has been proved wrong,” Kumar, flanked by state JD-U President Basistha Narayan Singh and senior party leaders Vijay Chaudhary and Shyam Rajak, said.

He, however, refused to comment on Manjhi's allegations that he was ‘power hungry’.

“Do not take me to that level when I have to answer on such things coming from such a person.”

Kumar said after two to three months of installing Manjhi, he started getting information from people and party workers about ‘sinister designs’ (of Manjhi and his supporters).

“But when it became clear that governance on the basis of which Bihar was brought back on the track and being recognised in the world was being compromised, I had no choice but to accept the request of party leaders and workers to take leadership once again,” he said.

“Now since I have taken a decision to re-take leadership there is no looking back and I will be the leader from the front to ensure that BJP never succeeds in its design (to win power in Bihar),” he said.

Bihar JD-U President Singh announced that the party rally in Patna on February 15 has been postponed now for March 1 in view of the recent political developments.