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PM Modi calls Nitish Kumar, congratulates him soon after latter's resignation
Nitish Kumar today tendered his resignation from the post of state chief minister to Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Janta Dal (United) (JDU) leader and outgoing Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, soon after latter tendered his resignation from the post, to congratulate him on the decision.
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Kumar, accompanied by ministers Vijendra Yadav and Sanjay Jha, today tendered his resignation from the post of state chief minister to Governor Rajendra Arlekar. The Governor accepted his resignation and deputed him as the caretaker CM till the new government is formed.
Later, Kumar submitted BJP's letter of support to governor and staked claim to form government in Bihar.
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.
Read here: Nitish Kumar resigns as Bihar CM after meeting governor, set to join BJP-led NDA
Reacting to the decision, union minister Giriraj Singh said that he thanked Kumar as Bihar was perplexed in a a Jungle Raj 2-like situation.
"I thank Nitish Kumar that he has resigned. Whatever be his compulsion, Bihar was perplexed if there was a Jungle Raj 2-like situation in 1.5 years. Had Tejashwi Yadav sat on the seat (CM position), it would have been very difficult...I was concerned about just one thing now, I was apprehensive that with the kind of pressure that Lalu Yadav was putting on him for the 'tajposhi' of Tejashwi - Bihar would have had a jungle raj again. It is free of this now. BJP won't allow jungle raj in Bihar..." he said to ANI.
However, the INDIA bloc parties mounted a scathing attack on state care taker chief minister with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge claiming that he already knew this was coming and underlining that political turncoats like Kumar keep coming and going. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mritunjay Tiwari said that Kumar had proved that he can not be trusted at all by any party or the public.
“Nitish will sink NDA’s boat. The public is watching what he is doing and he must be answerable for his actions. Nitish Kumar has set a new world record of switching over,…however, this would be the end of 'paltimaar' politics in Bihar,” the RJD leader said.
Shiv Sena (UBT faction) leader Anand Dubey said that as the BJP had asked Kumar to switch over as the saffron party had already assumed that it would be difficult for them to secure seats in Bihar.
Read here: Nitish Kumar giving a tough competition to chameleons, says miffed Congress
Nitish Kumar will sworn in as the chief minister at 5 pm along with Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha as his deputies. 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)
