Amid the ongoing war of nerves between the ruling Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over charges of corruption against the latter and the political uncertainty in Bihar, a section of BJP leaders on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and holding of fresh assembly polls in the state.

BJP Bihar unit leader Rameshwar Chaurasia said that given the circumstances Nitish Kumar had not been able to work for the development of Bihar as per the wishes of the people of the state who had voted him and his party to power. He said it would be appropriate that Kumar steps down paving the way for fresh assembly elections in Bihar.

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There have been reports of mounting pressure on Kumar to ask RJD leader Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad, to come clean or step down after the CBI registered charges of corruption against him and other members of his family. The RJD, however, on Saturday made it clear that Tejaswi would not resign.

The BJP’s state unit and the central leadership here is keen that Kumar jettisons his ruling ally RJD, thus not only weakening the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ of the Opposition but also increasing chances of JD(U)’s comeback to the NDA fold. JD (U) spokesperson KC Tyagi, however, denied the possibility of any split in the grand alliance despite the ongoing rumblings over the corruption charges against Tejaswi.

NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party headed by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said it was high time JD(U) comes back to the ruling NDA-fold. The party leader Chirag Paswan said Nitish Kumar coming back to the NDA would help the development of Bihar.  “It’s very important for Nitish Kumar to come back to NDA for the sake of development in Bihar and give the people a Lalu and family free Bihar… Nitish Kumar has always followed a zero tolerance policy towards corruption. We are hopeful that he would be able to take a decision in this regard at an appropriate time,” Paswan junior said.

In the BJP a large number of party leaders, however, believe that both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have been making efforts to project a united face of the ruling alliance but it is only a matter of time before the two decide to go their own ways and bring the curtains down on their alliance.