New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday called Nitish Kumar ‘aya ram, gaya ram', after the latter resigned as the chief minister of Bihar and exited the Opposition's INDIA bloc.
In Indian politics, political turncoats are referred to as ‘aya ram, gaya ram’.
The JD(U) leader, accompanied by ministers Vijendra Yadav and Sanjay Jha, today tendered his resignation from the post of chief minister to state Governor Rajendra Arlekar. The Governor accepted his resignation and deputed him as the caretaker CM till a new government is formed.
Read here: Nitish Kumar resigns as Bihar CM after meeting governor, set to join BJP-led NDA
"Earlier he and us were fighting together. When I talked to Laluji 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 alliance 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.
Reacting to the political development, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that he expected that Kumar would fight the BJP and its ideology till the end.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the political development, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that he expected that Kumar would fight the BJP and its ideology till the end.
{{/usCountry}}“Nitish Kumar is giving a tough competition to chameleons when it comes to changing his political stripes and partners. The people will not forgive this betrayal and those who took them for a ride. It's quite evident that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the BJP are scared of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and this political drama was enacted to shift public attention away from it,” he said in a post on X.
RJD, meanwhile, put out a full-page advertisement in leading newspapers in the state earlier in the day, edging out the Kumar supremo and projecting Tejashwi Yadav.
While tendering his resignation, Kumar said that the decision to dissolve the ‘mahagathbandhan’ government was taken after observing unprecedented conditions in the coalition. “Situations within the coalition were not favourable. I tendered my resignation today after considering all the views from leaders of my party,” he said.
He further alleged members of the INDIA bloc were doing nothing “despite working hard to bring them (Opposition parties) together”.
Read here: Nitish Kumar's first reaction after resigning as Bihar CM: ‘INDIA bloc not working’
The development came after a deafening buzz that Kumar would join the BJP-led NDA, dissolving the mahagathbandhan government in the state.
The fast-changing political events in the state were triggered by a social media post from former CM and RJD chief Lalu Yadav's daughter, Rohini Acharya, in which she took a swipe at the JD(U) saying that while the 'socialist party' styles itself as progressive, its ideology shifts with the changing wind patterns.
This marks the fourth time Kumar made a crossover between coalitions. He had been switching sides since 2013 over ideological disputes.
At present, in the Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the RJD has 79 MLAs; followed by the BJP at 78; JD(U) at 45, Congress at 19, the CPI (M-L) at 12, CPI(M) and CPI at 2 each, and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)'s at 4. Another two seats are with the AIMIM and an Independent.
(With inputs from agencies)