Accusing senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar of being 'power hungry', senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday said Kumar is running a campaign to force Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to quit and clear the decks for him.

Patna: Accusing senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar of being "power hungry", senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Thursday said Kumar is running a campaign to force Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to quit and clear the decks for him.

"Kumar's lust for power has reached its crescendo as his trusted lieutenants have launched a campaign to remove Manjhi so that the former chief minister can reclaim the post," Modi said in a statement.

The Chief Minister has been trying to hold on to his post with the help of a "big" group in the JD(U), he said, adding the ongoing internecine conflict within the ruling party was costing Bihar and taking a toll on the state's law and order situation and development.

Claiming Manjhi's remarks that some ministers and officials were not listening to him had added fuel to the rumours about a tussle between the ruling party and the government, the former deputy chief minister said governance had become a casualty to the ongoing tug-of-war between Kumar and Manjhi.

Taking potshots at the proposed RJD-JD(U) merger, Modi said some ruling party legislators were expressing reluctance to sign a consent letter for it.

He harped on the latest reshuffle in the bureaucracy to highlight a wedge between the former chief minister and his successor, saying Manjhi had shunted out Kumar's trusted bureaucrats from key departments in the past six months.

Modi also took strong exception to Rural Works Minister Shrawan Kumar's "unsolicited" advice to the Chief Minister after Manjhi hailed the Patna High Court verdict restoring Assembly membership of four rebel JD(U) MLAs who were disqualified by the Speaker for anti-party activities.

He also asked Manjhi to remove Road Construction Department Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh for orchestrating a campaign against him at the behest of former chief minister Nitish Kumar.

PTI