With the sunset on Wednesday the curtains on the 20-month-old Mahagathbandhan Government came down with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar quitting and submitting the resignation of his Cabinet to acting Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi.
After accepting the CM’s resignation, the Governor has asked Nitish to continue till alternative arrangement is made. However, the CM has not recommended for dissolution of the Assembly.
Nitish’s harsh decision came after once again a
defiant RJD supremo lalu Prasad said his son and Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will not resign.
The BJP lost no time in whole-heartedly welcoming Nitish’s decision to resign, giving a clear indication that it is open to do business with the JD(U) chief again and is against a mid-term poll.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Nitish’s disengagement with the RJD.
“It is the need of the time to rise above political differences and unitedly fight the corruption for the bright future of the country, particularly that of Bihar,” Modi tweeted within half-an-hour of Ntish saying it quits as CM. “Many-many congratulations to Nitish Kumar for joining fight against corruption. 1.15 crore citizens welcoming and supporting honesty,” Modi said in his second tweet.
Wearing a meek smile, a tense looking Nitish came out after remaining with the Governor for 10 minutes and addressed the media. “I have submitted resignation. I ran this 20-month-old alliance and observed dharma of Mahagathbandhan. I tried my best to save this unity but such an atmosphere was created under which it was just impossible for me to continue further. I informed lalu and Congress leaders before going to the Raj Bhavan.”
He said he did not ask Tejashwi to resign because he did not want any confrontation.