JD-U asks Bihar CM to bridge the gap between him and his ministers;

Bihar Chief Minister Manjhi during Ravidas Jayanti ceremony in Patna on Tuesday.The ruling Janata Dal(United) on Tuesday asked Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to bridge the gap between him and his ministers to sort out the mounting problems within the party.The party's Bihar unit president Vashishtha Narayan Singh admitted that the distance between the CM and some of his Cabinet colleagues had increased and it was up to Manjhi to bridge the gap. "Manjhi should take initiative to bridge the gap between him and the ministers since he is the CM," Singh said. "It is his council of ministers. He should take everybody along."
Singh said the party had already apprised Manjhi and other leaders of the need to refrain from making controversial statements. Singh's statements followed Manjhi's spirited defence of his move to transfer the senior bureaucrats by saying he was well within his rights to reshuffle any top bureaucrat to improve the performance of any department.

 

 

"Those raising objections over the transfers may not be aware of a 2007 Cabinet resolution which authorised the CM to carry out transfers and postings," he said.

The CM made these remarks in response to the recent letters of two senior ministers - Lalan Singh and P.K. Shahi - to the chief secretary, in which they had questioned the state government's decision to transfer senior officers within two years in a bid to question the discretion of the CM.
Both the ministers, who are considered close to former chief minister Nitish Kumar, had apparently shot off the letter after Manjhi shifted some of the senior bureaucrats out of the key departments such as home and building construction.
However, Manjhi pooh-poohed the objections of the two ministers. He said the reshuffle had been done to streamline the administration for better results. "The transfers are not done on whims and fancies," he said.
The chief minister, in fact, said the road construction department headed by minister Lalan Singh was not delivering results as per expectations.
The ministers' letters had raised a big controversy in the state with Opposition BJP asking the chief minister to sack them for questioning his authority. Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the JDU was asking Manjhi to bridge the gap between him and the ministers when Nitish and Vashihstha were controlling the party and instigating the ministers against the CM. "Nitish and Vashihstha are fanning the flame within the JD(U) but want Manjhi to douse the fire," he said.
Sushil claimed the stage was set to replace Manjhi by Nitish by February 15. "Nitish wants to become the chief minister once again," he claimed. "That is why he wants to replace Manjhi."

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jitan-ram-manjhi-jd-u-bihar-politics-nitish-kumar-vashishtha-narayan-singh-lalan-singh-pk-shahi/1/416804.html