Nitish Kumar to address multiple meetings; sets off speculations of his desire to stage comeback as Bihar CM

PATNA: The sudden activism by Nitish Kumar, supposedly on a sabbatical, has set off speculations whether the script is being written for his return as CM.Amid indications that he was enhancing his political role, Kumar recently met district office-bearers of the party in the state capital , and will undertake a 16-day "Sampark Yatra" next month which will see him address 32 public meetings across the state .

But for the first time after he demitted the CM’s office on May 20, Kumar has now convened a meeting of party legislators and MPs at his residence on Monday to ascertain the feedback on the performance of the Jitan Ram Manjhi government, which many feel has not been able to measure up to its expectations . Reacting to ruling JD(U)’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections , Kumar had resigned from the CM’s post installing Manjhi as his successor, a change which he described as the accomplishment of his project to empower the most disempowered, the Mahadalits .

But within the party itself , there have been murmurs against Manjhi, against his style of functioning , his controversial utterances and above all his not-so-secret desire to rule as a matter of right rather than as a nominee of Nitish. "Look at the conduct of the Tamil Nadu CM who swears in the name of Jayalalita while Manjhiji has been trying to entrench himself in Bihar politics. Instead of working silently and buttressing the political position of Nitishji , he is planning his own scheme of things," said a JD(U) leader. The distance between Manjhi and Kumar has now increased to the extent that he( Kumar) of late has even refused to grant audience to him.