Patna: Ending the two-year old Maha-gathbandhan or Grand Alliance which was touted as the next big opposition that would rally against Modi led NDA at Centre, Nitish Kumar today quit as the Chief Minister of Bihar citing conflicting differences with ally Lalu Yadav’s RJD on the issue of corruption charges.
Nitish said his decision to quit was based on moral grounds and best of interests for the state. He failed to convince coalition partner RJD chief Lalu to take responsibility for their involvement in a corruption scandal. Lalu had earlier reiterated that his son and deputy head of government Tejashwi would not step down just because of their corruption scandal.
This evening, Mr Kumar met with Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to deliver his resignation.
"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.
"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.
The sudden development throws the politics of Bihar into chaos with no party having a majority in the 243-member Assembly. Kumar's JD(U) has 71 seats, while RJD headed by Tejashwi Yadav's father Lalu Prasad, has 80 and the BJP has 53.
Asked if he will now form a government with BJP's support, he said,"Whatever had to happen has happened. Now see what happens next."
Kumar, who led the grand alliance that also included the Congress to a stunning victory, was sworn in on November 20 2015.