After Manjhi's exit, Mamata Banerjee congratulates Nitish Kumar

Dhaka/Kolkata, Feb 20: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar after her embattled Bihar counterpart Jitan Ram Manjhi dramatically resigned just ahead of a floor test Friday.

"I had congratulated Nitishji on 7 February, 2015. Let me congratulate him again today," Banerjee said in a tweet.

Claiming he as well as some other Bihar legislators had received threats to their lives, Manjhi said his request to Governor K. N. Tripathi that the confidence vote be held through secret ballot was not accepted.

"I realised that secret ballot may not happen, a lot of legislators would have lost their membership if it would have been known that they had voted for me, that's why I decided to quit", said Manjhi who was locked in a battle with Kumar after the latter claimed the chair.

Feb 7, Banerjee had tweeted a message congratulating former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"Nitish Kumar to become the chief minister of Bihar again. My warmest best wishes and congratulations to Nitishji," she said.

Banerjee is now on a three-day trip to Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

IANS