NEW DELHI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday morning submitted his resignation to governor Rajendra V Arlekar. The JD(U) president said that the state of affairs within the ruling alliance in Bihar wasn't good.
"I have resigned as CM as things were not working out well. Will leave the earlier alliance and form a new alliance now," Nitish said after resigning as Bihar CM.
"I sought the advice and opinions of everyone before coming to this decision. I took all opinions and suggestions to heart. The government is being dissolved today," he added.
Nitish is likely to take oath as Bihar chief minister for the record 9th time with BJP support at 4pm.
JD(U) has 45 members in the 243-member Bihar assembly. The support of BJP and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) will take the total tally of the NDA to 127, which is five more than the half mark at 122, required to prove majority in the House. Besides, JD(U) also has the support of one Independent legislator, Sumit Kumar Singh, who is already a cabinet minister in the current Nitish-led government. With Sumit’s support, the total NDA tally will be 128.
Here are the latest developments:
INDIA bloc failed my expectations: Nitish Kumar
Taking a dig at the INDIA bloc, Nitish Kumar said, "Nobody was doing anything after the alliance was formed. INDIA bloc failed my expectations".
KC Tyagi, senior JD(U) leader and political advisor to Nitish, said, "Congress's irresponsible and obstinate behaviour has shattered the INDIA bloc, which is on the verge of disintegration".
'Knew it would happen,' says Kharge on Nitish Kumar's exit
Soon after Nitish Kumar resigned from the CM's post, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that he knew it would happen. "There are many people in the country like 'aaya Ram-gaya Ram'," he said.
"Earlier he and us were fighting together. When I talked to Lalu ji and Tejashwi, they also said that Nitish is going. If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed but he wants to go. That's why we already knew this, but to keep the INDIA bloc intact, if we say something wrong, the wrong message will be sent. This information was already given to us by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Today that came true. There are many people in the country like 'aaya Ram-gaya Ram'," Kharge said.
BJP likely to get posts of two deputy CMs, Speaker
As per the agreement reached between the JD(U) and the BJP, Nitish will continue to hold the post of the CM, while the BJP will have two deputy chief ministers just like the previous NDA government formed after the 2020 assembly polls.
The name of former deputy CM Renu Devi, who is from the extremely backward classes (EBCs), is almost final. The names of two former deputy CMs, Sushil Kumar Modi and Tarkishore Prasad, are being considered for the second deputy CM, a senior BJP leader told TOI.
The Speaker's post will go to BJP while cabinet berths and departments will be distributed in the pattern of the 2020 NDA government, BJP sources said.
No problem if Nitish returns to NDA: Chirag Paswan
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, whose feud with Nitish Kumar pulled down JD(U)’s tally in 2020 Bihar assembly polls, said on Saturday that he has no problem with JD(U) returning to NDA, but cautioned the BJP leadership.
"I had a very fruitful discussion with the top BJP leadership on our alliance and developments in Bihar. We are part of NDA. We would wait to see whether the JD(U) president actually leaves 'mahagathbandhan' and joins the BJP-led alliance. Then we will take our stand. But we have no issue with Nitish Kumar as a person," he said.
We were considering Nitish Kumar to fight BJP till the very end: Jairam Ramesh
Earlier today, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that INDIA bloc was considering the JD(U) president to fight the BJP and its ideology till the very end.
"Nitish called the first meeting of 18 opposition parties in Patna on June 23, 2023. The second meeting was held in Bengaluru in July. Then again, a two-day meeting was held in Mumbai. Nitish Kumar played a prominent role in all three meetings, so we were considering Nitish Kumar to fight the BJP and its ideology till the very end," he said.
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