PATNA / NEW DELHI :
Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) leader Nitish Kumar likely to take oath as chief Minister of Bihar for 6th time today. Now he will be an NDA alliance representative in Bihar Assembly. According to sources Nitish Kumar, who just stepped down as the Chief Minister, yesterday is all set to take oath as the CM at 10 AM. Reports came after Nitish Kumar met Governor Kesri Nath in the midnight. Interestingly RJD legislatures had to meet governor at 11 AM today.
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Tejashwi YadavVerified account @yadavtejashwi 17 minutes ago
If Nitish Ji is proud of his moral values & honesty, He would not had been in midnight rush to stake claim for govt. Honest man doesn’t fearNitish Ji if u hv belief in ur morality & honesty thn Y u hv caged JDU MLAs in ur http://house.Free thm,they wil tell ur morality rate.Tejashwi YadavVerified account @yadavtejashwi 33 minutes ago
We are going to governor house to stage the dharna if not called for being the single largest party.
The Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs had earlier met Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to stake claim to form the government in the state.
14 ministers each from the BJP and the JD(U) will be reportedly sworn-in. The BJP earlier had declared ‘unconditional support’ for Nitish.
Bihar saw a major political drama on Wednesday evening when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from his post. Nitish Kumar resigned from his post today, citing irreconcilable differences with ally RJD on the issue of corruption charges against his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Talking to reporters outside Raj Bhavan in Patna after submitting his resignation to Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi, Mr Kumar said, present circumstances compelled him to resign from his post.
Mr. Kumar said, he tried his best to lead the grand alliance government but political situation does not permit him to continue the government.
The Governor has accepted the resignation.
Mr Kumar took this decision after JD(U) legislators’ meeting at his residence in Patna. Party sources said, Mr Kumar took the drastic decision due to ongoing political crisis arising out after lodging of an FIR against Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in land graft case by CBI.
The sudden development throws the politics of Bihar into chaos with no party having a majority in the 243-member Assembly.
JD(U) has 71 seats, while RJD headed by Tejashwi’s father Lalu Prasad, has 80. The BJP has 53.
RJD Chief Lalu Prasad has alleged that murder and arms act cases are pending against Nitish Kumar.
Talking to reporters in Patna after the resignation of Nitish Kumar, the RJD chief said, Mr Kumar has no moral right to talk about zero tolerance against corruption.
Lalu Prasad said if, Nitish Kumar can continue as Chief Minister despite objectionable pending cases against him why not Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Mr Prasad said, the demand for resignation of Tejashwi was irrelevant as CBI has only filed FIR against him. RJD Chief said he has always said, Tejashwi will explain about graft cases before CBI and court. Lalu Prasad said his party will give befitting reply to BJP.
Accusing Nitish Kumar of hobnobbing with BJP, he said that the Chief Minister’s resignation was preplanned.
The Congress expressed disappointment over the resignation of Nitish Kumar as Bihar chief minister and said it will continue to strive to resolve the differences in the ‘grand alliance’.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the ‘grand alliance’ was given a mandate for five years and the Congress will strive to respect that.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed Nitish Kumar for his decision to resign from the post of Bihar Chief Minister over the issue of corruption.
In a series of tweets, Mr Modi congratulated Mr Kumar for joining the fight against corruption saying that 125 crore people of the country are welcoming and supporting honesty.
He said, it is the need of the hour to set aside political differences and fight collectively against the corruption for the country especially for the bright future of Bihar.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi said that the party does not favour mid-term polls in Bihar, and wants all legislators to complete their term.
He told reporters in Patna that the party is happy that Nitish Kumar did not compromise on the issue of corruption and did not bow down to the RJD.
At a meeting of the state BJP, it was decided that Sushil Modi and some other leaders will apprise the central party leadership of the developments.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has termed as correct and brave the resignation by Nitish Kumar. Stating that corruption had made the country hollow, he said, Mr Kumar would get the support of the country in his fight against corruption.