Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar on Sunday tendered his resignation to Governor Rajendra Arlekar. Kumar informed the Governor about his decision to sever ties with the ‘Mahagathbandhan’.
The development comes amid a strong buzz in the power corridors of Patna that Nitish would rejoin the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), bringing an end to the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ rule in the state.
According to sources, a power sharing deal has already been finalised between his party JD(U) and the BJP. The two parties have also finalised seat-sharing in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Kumar, known for his frequent political U-turns, had ditched the NDA and joined the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) to form the government in 2022.
Earlier today, the Bihar CM called a crucial meeting of JD(U) MLAs at his residence in Patna this morning. During the meeting, the MLAs reportedly authorised him to take the final call.
Below are the top updates:
- Bihar CM and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar meets Governor at Raj Bhavan; tells him – We have decided to sever ties with the mahagathbandhan in the state.
- A meeting of JD(U) MLAs and leaders of the party was held at the residence of CM Nitish Kumar in Patna. The MLAs have authorised Kumar to take final call.
- A separate meeting of Bihar BJP MLAs and leaders of the party was also held at the party office in Patna.
- As speculations are soaring high, the Congress has said that it was Nitish Kumar who took the initiative of bringing Opposition parties together and that the party wanted him to fight the BJP till the very end.
- “Nitish Kumar called the first meeting of 18 opposition parties in Patna on 23rd June 2023. The second meeting was held in Bengaluru on 17th-18th July 2023. Then again on 31st August-1st September in Mumbai. Nitish Kumar played a prominent role in all three meetings, so we were considering Nitish Kumar to fight the BJP and its ideology till the very end…,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
- LJP (Paswan) Bihar president Raju Tiwari said that Chirag Paswan believes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar too will go under the PM’s leadership.