Bihar saw a major turn of events on Wednesday evening when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from his post, instead of Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, as was being speculated and expected.
Kumar met Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi at Raj Bhawan and submitted the resignation of his government hours after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav ruled out the resignation of his son and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav over a corruption scam.
“In the circumstances that prevail in Bihar, it became difficult to run the grand alliance government,” Kumar told reporters outside Raj Bhavan after submitting his resignation to Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi.
“On my part, I tried to hold the grand alliance together as much as I could,” he said. “I even spoke to Rahul Gandhi about it.”
He did not rule out taking BJP’s support for forming a new government.
“I had only asked for a clarification on the corruption charges,” Kumar said. “…It’s not possible to work in this environment. I tried and found that resigning was the solution.”
Bihar Governor accepted Nitish Kumar’s decision and asked him to continue as caretaker CM.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav earlier in the day took a jibe at Nitish Kumar, saying he was aware of his longtime friend’s party’s – Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) – growing bonhomie with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Lalu also gave a pointed reminder that his party has the most number of seats in the legislature.
Addressing a press conference, he also said, “I made him the Chief Minister,” however, asserting that all was well with him.
The CBI registered a corruption case against Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.
The case has dealt a big blow to the Bihar Mahagathbandhan with Nitish’s JD(U) insisting on Tejashwi’s resignation and the RJD and Congress opposed to the move.
Lalu, however, denied that Nitish had demanded Tejashwi’s resignation. “It is the media which is trying to create a rift. I am in touch with him (Nitish). In fact, I talked to him last night as well,” he said.
Minutes later, Tejashwi echoed his father’s statements. “This is a conspiracy not just against me and the party, but against the people of Bihar. The Mahagathbandhan continues to be strong. The people will answer the BJP,” the deputy CM told CNN-News18.
“The BJP is trying to destabilise governments in non-BJP states. The Mahagathbandhan is strong and will continue to be so,” he said. Rejecting demands for his resignation, Tejashwi indirectly questioned Nitish’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption. “When the Grand Alliance was formed, then too there were cases against my father. But such cases are politically motivated,” he said.
Immediately after Kumar announced his resignation, PM Modi tweeted: “Congratulations! Mr Nitish Kumar for joining the fight against corruption.”
“1.25 crore people are welcoming and supporting his honesty,” he said in a series of tweets.
“For the bright future of the country, and especially Bihar, it is the need of the hour to rise above political differences and join the fight against corruption,” Modi said.
Source: Agencies
