Patna,(BiharTimes): Though a couple of regional television channels are repeatedly claiming that chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi needs the support of just 32 MLAs of his party, the JD(U), to survive as the 87-member BJP Legislature Party is ready to support him, the truth is that the best option for the chief minister is to recommend the dissolution of Assembly. This will give Manjhi an opportunity to function as a caretaker CM till the Assembly election later this year. Not only 32, even the claim of 50 JD(U) MLAs crossing over to this camp––as claimed by the BJP––would not help the present government.

By stating that the present government would survive with the support of saffron party the so-called experts in the television channels are either not aware or have not done their homework or are just working for the Manjhi camp or BJP.

“How can this happen,” asked a noted journalist associated with a Hindi daily. This is just a disinformation campaign, he added. They are totally ignoring the anti-Defection law which says that the support of two-thirds member of the Legislature Party is must to formalize a split.The Janata Dal (United) has at present 111 MLAs, besides eight others were terminated. Four of them later won their case.

Two-thirds of 111 is 74 and Manjhi is at present not in the position to get the support of this number of MLAs as anti-Defection law would come into effect. So before the trial of strength he can recommend the dissolution and thus have upper hand, feel political observers.Though Manjhi and his camp-followers are confident of the BJP support yet the examples of former prime minister Charan Singh and Chandrashekar are still very vivid in the mind of old timers. The Congress encouraged split in the then Janata Party in 1979 and then again in Janata Dal in 1990, but later withdrew support, leaving both the prime ministers high and dry.

But then those were the days when the anti-Defection law was not enacted. Now it has become a bit more difficult to engineer a split in the legislature party. The BJP badly needs to create problem in the JD(U) and in the process get a Mahadalit leader. And this it has got––thanks to some bad political judgements made by Nitish Kumar.