Patna: The 20-month-end Grand Alliance government in Bihar met its end yesterday after Nitish Kumar in a sudden move resigned as chief minister, citing “unavoidable circumstances”.
The chief minister rushed to the Raj Bhawan Wednesday evening and tendered his resignation to Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi who accepted the notice to step down and asked him to continue until further arrangements are made.
“I am resigning from office and listening to the voice of conscience. It was just impossible for me to continue further under such circumstances,” Kumar told journalists as he emerging from the Raj Bhawan, after tendering his papers.
He said he tried hard to follow the coalition agreement and fulfil the promises made to the voters at the time of election campaigning during the 2015 assembly elections but the kind of pressures he was facing from certain quarters compelled him to walk out of the alliance
At the same time, the chief minister also hit out at RJD president Lalu Prasad amid a corruption scandal.
“The problem [the RJD chief’s family is facing] is self-made,” the chief minister said.
The chief minister made the move shortly after Prasad, at the end of a meeting of party lawmakers, declared his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi would not resign over the issue of corruption, and neither would his party give clarifications to the JD-U.
Trouble in the government began early this month after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case of corruption against Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi.
The RJD leader accused the chief minister of playing into the hands of the “communal forces”.
“Soon after breaking alliance with the BJP in 2013, Nitish Kumar had said he would meet his political end rather than shake hands with the communal forces again but what he has done today is just the reverse,” he alleged.
Prasad further mocked the chief minister, who he said sought the resignation of his son although he himself faced murder charges.
“He is perhaps the first chief minister in the country who continued in office despite being a murder case pending against him and the court has taken a cognisance in the case,” alleged Prasad.
Mocking his zero tolerance claim on corruption, Prasad asked why the chief minister continued in office despite facing serious charges, where the minimum possible punishment is a life term.
Nitish Kumar’s JD-U does not have the required number to form a government on its own. The JD-U which has only 71 members in 243 members Bihar assembly requires the support of the BJP-led NDA which has 58 members. Together, they will hardy reach the majority mark of 122 as the fate of the government will always hang in balance.
Second time
An alliance between BJP and JD-U would also lead to realignment as some NDA allies including Uoendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi do not enjoy good relations with Nitish Kumar and could quit the NDA.
This is the second time the chief minister has broken up an alliance.
In June 2013, he broke his party’s 17-year-old alliance with the BJP to form a government with the help of the opposition.
A clear hint of what was going to happen in the day became clear when the both the governor Tripathi and the RJD president Prasad cancelled their scheduled visits to their respective places. While the Bengal Governor who was in additional charge of Bihar was to rush back to Kolkata, Prasad was to go Ranchi to attend court proceedings.
