Sachchidanand Jha
Patna : Amidst growing rift between JD(U) and RJD over continuance of deputy CM Tejaswi Prasad Yadav after CBI on July 5, 2017, made him and his father and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad an accused in land for hotel deal, CM Nitish Kumar on July 26, 2017, met Bihar governor K N Tripathi and resigned on moral grounds to maintain his image as an honest politician showing probity was still left in politics.
PM Narendra Modi, in a tweet, congratulated Nitish for joining fight against corruption and the 125 crore population of the country suppots him. PM Modi’s tweet came within 20 minutes of Nitish’s resignation.
Earlier, RJD Lalu Prasad, at a presser, had ruled out the possibility of Tejaswi’s resignation though he claimed that there was no threat to Grand Alliance government. Tejaswi also said he would not quit.
With Nitish’s resignation, the Grand Alliance government has collapsed in the state. Meanwhile, the BJP has once again indicated that it would extend support to Nitish from outside if he decides to form government.
Nitish’s resignation is major setback to Lalu as he and some of his family members are on CBI, ED and Income-tax department radar. Nitish’s resignation clearly indicates that he believes that corruption charges against Lalu and his family members were true. The JD(U) had asked Tejaswi to come clean on corruption charges against him. The Grand Alliance government was formed in November 2015.
Nitish told mediapersons that he had never asked for resignation of Tejaswi. ” I had indeed asked for an explanation from RJD Lalu Prasad,” he said. Nitish said that it was no longer possible for him to run the government. He said that he had supported demonetisation and demanded action benaami property. The Income-tax department (ITD) has provisionally sealed 12 benaami property of Lalu’sfamily members while the ED has quizzed his daughter Dr Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Nitish’s alliance with RJD was untenable from the very beginning. JD(U) Secretary General K C Tyagi said that Nitish Kumar was not getting free hand to run the gvernment.
The JD(U) has 71 members in Bihar assembly while RJD has 80 and Congress 27. The Congress and RJD taken together will have only 107 members in Bihar assembly. The NDA has 57 members in the assembly. The JD(U) and NDA taken together will have 128 members in the House which is six more than the 122 required to form the government in Bihar. Soon after his resignation, Nitish said he would do whatever will be in the interest of Bihar a clear indication that he would not be averse to joining hands with BJP. The BJP’s parliamentary party is holding meeting in Delhi to discuss political situation in Bihar.
The short monsoon session of Bihar legislature is beginning on July 28. Will the new government will be formed before that or the session will be postponed?