A day after his party’s dismal performance in lok Sabha polls Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday submitted his resignation to the State Governor on moral grounds but kept the door open for either his re-election or a new Chief Minister (CM) from his party by not recommending to the State Governor dissolution of the State Assembly and fresh elections. While Kumar described his decision as a “goodbye’ and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said a “surprise” face would be elected in place of Kumar as Chief Minister, a section in the party felt there was no alternative to him and he might be persuaded to stay on.
Kumar’s party JD(U) could win just two seats out of a total of 40 lok Sabha seats in Bihar. But there was a strong possibility that JD(U) MlAs may re-elect him as leader of the legislature Party on Sunday and ask him to carry on as CM.
Bihar Governor DY Patil has accepted the resignation of Nitish Kumar and his Cabinet, according to a Raj Bhavan communiqué. “The election campaign of my party and the CPI was done under my leadership and I take moral responsibility of the outcome. So after consulting my party president and leaders, I submitted my resignation to the Governor,” said Kumar.
However, Kumar did not give a direct reply to whether he could accept the post of CM again if his partymen choose him as leader of the legislature Party. Sources said Kumar may have played a political masterstroke by submitting the resignation of his Council of Ministers, which also consists of some troublemakers and underperformers. If re-elected, he could pick up a new Cabinet and go to the Assembly polls next year with new faces.
He will get elbow room to weed out unwanted Ministers because of reports of a patch up between him and lalu Prasad. The RJD chief has said he would not like the Nitish Kumar Government to fall. The RJD has 24 MlAs in the State Assembly and their support will be crucial to keep the JD(U) Government afloat in case of some desertions post the lok Sabha poll debacle.
In Delhi, Sharad Yadav injected a great deal of suspense into the plot by saying Kumar’s successor would be chosen on Sunday and made it clear that the party would tie-up even with bitter rival RJD for formation of a “secular alliance”.“A CM candidate will be decided tomorrow...We will take a decision tomorrow which will surprise the nation. We will save the country,” Yadav told reporters here.
Stressing that the JD(U) remains the single-largest party and will form the Government under a new leader, he rejected suggestions that Kumar quit fearing a split in the party.When asked if the non-BJP ‘secular alliance’ meant that the hatchet with lalu Prasad would be buried, he said: “It’s the question of the country. So if there are old differences, they do not pose a problem.”
“All of them (differences) will be over and the battle will begin from there. Bihar is the place from where most agitations and new paths emerge. There are all kinds of secular people and all will participate in that,” he said.Kumar rejected contentions that he resigned fearing the collapse of his Government and said there was no threat to the survival of his Government. “As of now there is no problem on survival of my Government in the State Assembly but I resigned on moral grounds,” he said.
In the 243 members State Assembly, the JD(U) has 115 members and is surviving with the support of four Congress, one CPI and five Independent MlAs. The BJP has 91 members whereas the RJD has 22 MlAs.“I’ve not recommended dissolution of the State Assembly as we’ve got the numbers to run the Government. Now the ball is in Governor’s court and let him and others decided what and how they want to run the Government in Bihar,” he told reporters.
Kumar also said that ways were open for any alternative Government to be formed”. “But, I’ve said goodbye.”Earlier in the day, Kumar had a long meeting with Sharad Yadav and senior party leaders at his residence.Significantly, Kumar also reiterated that his decision to snap ties with BJP on June 16 was totally right and taken on political principle he follows.
He also lamented the nature of the poll campaign in the lok Sabha elections. “There was complete polarization on communal lines which I’d never seen in any election campaign in my entire political career. It’s not a good sign for the country,” he said making oblique reference towards BJP’s poll campaign strategy.He also mocked at BJP’s poll campaign catch line “aache din aane wale hain” and said that he too was eagerly waiting for those good days to come.
“I wish them all my good wishes for the good days to come and also for getting a clear mandate”, he said.Meanwhile, party insiders told The Pioneer that Kumar took this decision to put pressure on disgruntled MlAs and also to save his face for drubbing in the lok Sabha poll. His party could win just two seats Nalanda and Purnea. Even in the by-poll for five assembly constituencies which went to election along with the lok Sabha poll the JD-U could win just one seat of Kochadhaman. The BJP too won just one seat of Maharajganj whereas the RJD bagged three eats of Baisi, Sahebpur Kamal and Chiraiya.
With some JD(U) leaders openly expressing their voice of dissent against Nitish, speculation was rife that a major block of the JD-U MlAs was in touch with BJP to defect. The state BJP chief Mangal Pandey on Saturday claimed that many JD-U leaders were in touch with his party.Senor JD-U leader and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh had openly questioned Kumar’s leadership and was said to be ready to defect from the party along with others.On Thursday when Nitish Kumar had called a Cabinet meeting, five out of 14 Ministers, including Narendra Singh did not turn up.