Amidst the Bihar political crisis, JD(U) MLA from Islampur Rajiv Ranjan has emerged the most sought-after legislator from the Jitan Ram Manjhi camp. Ranjan, who hails from Nitish Kumar’s home turf Nalanda, fell out with the former CM and Manjhi has now picked him the chief whip in the assembly. Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary is yet to take a call on who the chief whip is — Shravan Kumar, whom JD(U) has appointed or Rajiv Ranjan, an appointee of the CM. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ranjan said how 12 MLAs, lodged at the CM House, had been “staying away” from the leaders of the Nitish faction and “warding off of assurances of poll tickets”. “Most of our time is consumed in discussing legal tangles and how things would go during the floor test”. Claiming to be the real chief whip, Ranjan said: “I was appointed chief whip on February 7 by the CM, who is competent to make this appointment. The Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) appointed Shravan Kumar on February 9. It is true that Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary has not notified who the chief whip is, but I have already taken charge”. Asked what if Shravan Kumar is notified the chief whip, Ranjan said they were taking legal advice on the matter. “If this whip thing does not come into play, we can get 50 MLAs from Nitish camp to support us. There are apprehensions among legislators about Anti-Defection Law coming into force and taking away their membership”. He added that they were not very sure about “fair play”. He further said that they would put out an advertisement in newspapers on February 19, asking all JD(U) MLAs to vote for Manjhi. On MLAs of the Manjhi faction, Ranjan said: “Some of them have residences at Patna, some have been staying at CM House. Most of us meet at CM House or stay in constant touch to update each other on daily happenings. Some of us are still being threatened or wooed with ticket offers”. Asked if they were in touch with Nitish camp MLAs, he said they had only given them the message that maximum MLAs should support Manjhi, who he said, enjoys the support of “22 per cent EBC and 13 per cent Mahadalit votes”. Asked if they received any offer from BJP, Ranjan said: “Manjhi is now too big a leader to be ignored by BJP. They have been giving vibes on supporting us”.
