Swearing-in today: BJP out, RJD, Cong and others in, Nitish to stay as CM - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Swearing-in today: BJP out, RJD, Cong and others in, Nitish to stay as CM

ByArun Kumar and Vijay Swaroop, Patna
Aug 09, 2022 10:21 PM IST

A tweet from RJD’s official Twitter handle in the evening said the chief minister and his deputy will take oath of office at 2 pm on Wednesday and that Kumar’s resignation had been accepted by Governor Phagu Chouhan.

Nearly 20 months after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned to power in Bihar under his leadership, chief minister Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and tendered his resignation on Tuesday, and staked claim hours later to form a new government as the head of Grand Alliance of seven parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav with JDU leader Nitish Kumar in Patna on Tuesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav with JDU leader Nitish Kumar in Patna on Tuesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The Janata Dal (United) strongman went to the Raj Bhawan (Governor’s residence) alone around 4 pm and tendered his resignation as the chief minister. Later, he went to the Raj Bhawan again, this time with RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, after getting elected as the leader of the Grand Alliance, and staked claim to form the new government.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A tweet from RJD’s official Twitter handle in the evening said the chief minister and his deputy will take oath of office at 2 pm on Wednesday and that Kumar’s resignation had been accepted by Governor Phagu Chouhan.

The new alliance, which has seven parties, has 164 members in support, Kumar later said.

“Today, at the meeting of all legislators and MPs (of the JD-U), it was decided that we should leave the NDA. I accepted their decision and tendered my resignation as CM of NDA to the Governor,” Kumar said in a brief interaction with media persons after his first visit to the Raj Bhawan.

Later, Kumar, along with Tejaswhi Yadav and leaders from other parties, told reporters that he was never ready to accept the CM post after 2020 election results, but was asked to continue. “But the way things unfolded, every one of us wanted to get out of the NDA. We have zero tolerance to corruption. We want communal amity, but the way unnecessary controversies were being created, it was found difficult to continue. We will continue to move on our path together,” he said.

Kumar laughed off a query if he was preparing for the prime ministerial race in 2024.

Tejaswhi Yadav, who is RJD’s heir apparent, said BJP had been left alone in the state, as all other parties had come together with the new government. “I had told him (Nitish) to resign and then we will decide the future course of action. He resigned and we are now doing what is required. Nitishji is the most experienced leader. In the entire Hindi belt, BJP has no ally, as it gobbled up all its allies. The country is grappling with price rise, communal tension and security issues, but the BJP is busy playing its own game. In Bihar, it will not be allowed to happen. Bihar got nothing from the BJP, neither the special status to the state nor the central university status to Patna University,” he said.

Soon after tendering his resignation, Kumar went to former chief minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi’s residence, an indication of RJD’s growing clout.

Later, both Nitish Kumar and Tejaswhi Prasad, along with Congress in-charge of Bihar affairs, Bhakt Charan Das, walked up to Raj Bhawan to submit the list of supporting MLAs to the Governor. “The message is clear. Nitish Kumar will remain the CM, but RJD will wield the influence due to the arithmetic in its favour. This is what the 2020 mandate was for,” said an RJD leader.

Currently, the effective strength of 243-member Bihar assembly is 242, owing to the recent disqualification of Mokama MLA Anant Singh after his conviction in a criminal case. The single largest party is RJD, with 79 members, followed by BJP (77), JD-U (45), Congress 19, CPI-ML (12), former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM (4) and CPI and CPM two each.

CPI -ML has already announced its decision not to join the ministry but has extended its outside support.

This is the second time JD(U) has broken alliance with BJP and joined hands with the RJD-led opposition.

In 2013, Kumar ended the 17-year-old alliance with BJP. In 2015, the party fought the elections in alliance with RJD and Congress and came back to power. However, Kumar dumped RJD in 2017 and got back into NDA.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, the JD(U) tally, for the first time, was reduced to the third position in the state.

Meanwhile, addressing media persons briefly after Kumar’s resignation, state BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal said it was a deceit with the people of the state, who had given NDA the mandate in 2020 Assembly elections. “It is for Nitish Kumar to answer how and why he could do it,” he said.

BJP leader and former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too said it was an insult of people’s mandate. “If Nitish Kumar had problems with the BJP, he should never had become the CM,” he said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On