Nitish quits as Bihar CM

Patna/New Delhi : On a day of dramatic developments, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned on Wednesday, dumping RJD over corruption charges against his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, and looked set to join hands with the BJP to form a new government.

Citing irreconcilable differences with the senior ally over corruption charges against Tejashwi, son of Lalu Prasad, Kumar announced his resignation after meeting Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, hours after the RJD supremo rejected outright the demand for his son's ouster. Kumar's resignation capped days of stand-off between his party JD(U) and the RJD with the former insisting that Tejashwi defend himself against the allegations.

"In the circumstances that prevail in Bihar, it became difficult to run the grand alliance government," Kumar told reporters outside Raj Bhavan after submitting his resignation to Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi. He did not rule out taking BJP's support for forming a new government after walking out of the 3-party grand alliance which also included the Congress.

As suspense mounted over Kumar's next step, the BJP quickly seized upon the opportunity to reunite with its old ally, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising Kumar for "joining the fight against corruption", saying the entire nation supports his honesty. The move was seen as an effort to reach out to JD(U), which had ended its 17-year association with the BJP in 2013 after Modi was nominated the saffron party's campaign committee chief for 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Senior state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who was Kumar's deputy when the two parties ran a coalition government, said his party has decided to back the JD(U) leader in forming the next government and will be a part of it. Legislators of the NDA constituents and JD(U) will meet to elect Nitish as their leader, Modi said, without elaborating on when it would happen.

He said the Governor will be apprised of the decision soon. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the JD(U) has 71 MLAs and the BJP 53. The two parties together have 124 MLAs, marginally ahead of the half-way mark. Besides, they have the support of NDA allies LJP (02) and RLSP (02).

"Congratulations! Mr Nitish Kumar for joining the fight against corruption." "1.25 crore people are welcoming and supporting his honesty," Modi said in a series of tweets after Kumar announced his resignation. "For the bright future of the country, and especially Bihar, it is the need of the hour to rise above political differences and join the fight against corruption," Modi said.

Kumar responded with a quick tweet saying,"I thank the Prime Minister from the core of my heart for praising my decision (of quitting)." Earlier, Kumar, when asked about the chances of his forming a government with BJP's support, said, "Whatever will be in the interest of Bihar will be done. Wait for the future to unfold. Whatever had to happen has happened. Now see what happens next."

Kumar said his resignation was accepted by the Governor who asked him to continue as CM till an alternative arrangement has been made. "I tried to work it out....I did not ask for anybody's resignation...I just asked Tejashwi to explain the charges of corruption," he said. After the CM made the announcement, Lalu broached the idea of forming an alternative government without Kumar or Tejashwi heading it.