Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, resigned on Tuesday, ending his coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kumar met with the JD(U) leaders earlier in the day to discuss his upcoming political moves. Following that, he requested some time from Governor Phagu Chauhan.
After arriving at Raj Bhavan at around 4 o’clock, Kumar met with Governor Phagu Chauhan and informed him of his decision to step down as state chief minister.
The majority of the JD(U) party’s MLAs and MPs expressed support for chief minister Kumar’s willingness earlier today during the JD(U) meeting. Additionally, they declared that they would still stand by Kumar’s decision.
Outside the chief minister’s residence, police officers were seen deployed in large numbers.
The majority of JD(U) legislators were said to be unhappy with the alliance. They had conveyed the chief minister, Kumar, in today’s party meeting that the coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had weakened them since 2020.
The legislators are said to have warned the Chief Minister that if they were not vigilant, it would not be beneficial for their party, recalling the actions of the former Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief during the 2020 state assembly elections without mentioning the name of party leader Chirag Paswan.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan had fielded rebel BJP candidates in all seats contested by the JD(U) in the 2020 elections, in what some have claimed was a BJP plot to wedge its way into the state’s ruling alliance.
Meanwhile, leaders from the CPI-ML and the Congress, two other parties that make up the opposition “Mahagathbandhan” coalition in the state, attended a meeting of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan opposition alliance today at the home of former chief minister Rabri Devi.
After the meeting, it’s believed that the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s MLAs, MLCs, and Rajya Sabha MPs gave Tejashwi Yadav the go-ahead to make a decision and declared their support for him. It is also claimed that Yadav has also received the support of MLAs from the Congress and Left parties.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, the supremo of the RJD party, is reportedly closely monitoring the progress. However, his son Tejashwi Yadav is in charge of everything.
At the same time, Rohini Acharya, the daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav, tweeted about a forthcoming political shift in the state at the same time. She tweeted in Hindi, “Get ready for the coronation, lantern holder,” and added a “victory” emoticon. See here.
According to the state’s RJD-led opposition, any reorganisation of the governing coalition in Bihar without the BJP will be welcomed.
Ajit Sharma, the leader of the Congress party in the Bihar legislature, made these comments prior to today’s RJD meeting;
“If Nitish Kumar comes, we’ll welcome him. If he comes, we will support him. A meeting of Mahagathbandhan is being held. We should take a decision to support (him) by considering Nitish Kumar as the CM but we’ll be able to tell you only after the meeting.”
Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), called for President’s rule and asked for the new elections in Bihar on Tuesday after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from his position and shattered his alliance with the BJP.
Pointing out at Kumar, Chirag Paswan said, “today, the credibility of Nitish Kumar is zero”.
“We want President’s rule to be imposed in Bihar and the state should go for a fresh election. Do you (Nitish Kumar) have any ideology or not? In the next polls, JD-U will get zero seats,” Chirag Paswan, son of former Union minister late Ram Vilas Paswan, said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad held a meeting for Bihar BJP leaders, in Patna.
