On a day when JD(U) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi took oath as the new Bihar Chief Minister with 17 members of his Cabinet, the BJP suffered a major setback when two of its legislators resigned from the State Assembly to express their “solidarity with Nitish Government”. Both the BJP MlAs had earlier rebelled against the party while praising the then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Dissident BJP MlAs Vijay Kumar Mishra from Jale Asse-mbly constituency in Darbhanga and Rana Gangesh-war Singh from Mohiuddinagar constituency of Samastipur on Tuesday met Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary and submitted their resignations from the House.
“We have resigned to show solidarity with Nitish and the JD(U) Government,” said Rana Gangeshwar Singh. Both the dissident BJP legislators went to the Speaker’s chamber and submitted their resignation which was accepted promptly.
Earlier, both the dissident BJP MlAs had been suspended from the party in February 2014, for praising Nitish. They even had declared Nitish as the better candidate for Prime Minister than BJP nominee Narendra Modi.
Earlier on Monday, three RJD MlAs Samrat Chaudhury, Ram lakhan Ram Raman and Zaved Iqbal Ansari too had resigned from the State Assembly “to support Nitish Government”.
Opposition party leaders now have accused Nitish for engineering such political moves to save his party’s minority Government in the State Assembly.
“It’s all being done at the instance of Nitish to prove majority in the House. But, let the time come and his party’s new Government will lose the confidence of the House,” said State BJP leader Giriraj Singh.
Earlier, senior State BJP leader Shushil Kumar Modi had declared that at least 50 JD(U) MlAs had supported the BJP in the lok Sabha polls. “But, the BJP doesn’t want this new Government to fall … it will crumble down on its own weight,” he said.