Friday, February 18 2005 09:30 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Diluting his stand on the issue of Chief Ministership the post he had earlier offered to Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar and then to the Congress, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ramvilas Paswan yesterday (Feb 17, 2005) asserted that he was himself in the race for the top job.

"I am in the race for the post of Chief Minister as I solidly stand behind my commitment to rid the people of the State of the Jungle Raj and corruption unleashed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar," Paswan told reporters in Patna.

"Main hi to hoon jo ki Bihar ki janata ko is jangal raj se mukt kara sakta hoon. Hamse achha mukhyamantri kaun ho sakta hai (I am alone capable of freeing the people of the State from the Jungle Raj and none other than I will be a better choice for the CM's post)," Paswan said.

Paswan had initially offered the top post to Nitish Kumar, while making a determined bid to have an electoral understanding with the JD-U.

Paswan had, subsequently, offered the post to the Congress after holding a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi for reaching seat-sharing arrangements in Bihar after the JD-U virtually rejected his offer.

He had also while campaigning announced to make a Muslim leader Chief Minister in the event of a hung Assembly.

With the exit poll predicting a fragmented verdict, Paswan had on Wednesday (Feb 16,2005) said that he would prefer imposition of President's rule for two years in Bihar to alignment either with the RJD or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for forming the next Government in the event of a hung Assembly.

Reacting to Paswan's changing stance on the issue of Chief Ministership, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) General Secretary Arun Jaitley charged Paswan with 'living amidst hallucinations', while RJD chief Laloo Prasad alleged that such statements reflected his 'mental bankruptcy'.

JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, however, ruled out a hung Assembly after the poll and claimed that the NDA would obtain a clear-cut majority to form a Government on its own.

He said a hung Assembly would pave the way for return of the RJD in company of the Congress and the LJP of Paswan.