Ghar wapsi for Nitish Kumar, to form govt with BJP support on Thursday

On a day of fast-paced developments, Nitish Kumar resigned on Wednesday as Bihar Chief Minister, dumping RJD over corruption charges against his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, and joining hands with BJP to form the next government, barely hours after quitting office. Kumar will be sworn-in as chief minister on Thursday, marking the return of a JD(U)-BJP dispensation in the politically volatile state after four years.

After meeting Governor, Bihar BJP leader and former Deputy CM Sushil Modi said that they have been invited to form government and Nitish Kumar will take oath at 10 AM . Sushil Modi said that they have submitted letter with support of 132 MLAs. According to BJP Bihar President Nityanand Rai, only Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi will take oath on Thursday. 

However, the RJD appeared in no mood to give up without a fight, with Tejashwi Yadav saying he, too, would stake claim to form government."Have sought appointment with the governor. Will stake claim to form government as the the single largest party. Will also get the support of JD(U) MLAs who have won after defeating BJP candidates," Tejashwi tweeted. However, the numbers are stacked against him. The JD(U), BJP, their allies and supporting independent MLAs together account for 132 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, 10 more than the magic figure of 122.

RJD has 81 MLAs and even if Congress with 27 MLAs and CPI-ML (03) decide to back Tejashwi, their number would add up to 110. Reacting sharply to the governor inviting Nitish Kumar for the swearing-in at 10 am after giving him an appointment for 11 am, Tejashwi said RJD would stage a dharna outside Raj Bhavan against it. "Governor gv us time of 11AM and now suddenly has asked NDA for oath ceremony at 10AM. Why so much hurry & rush Mr. Honest & Moral?" he tweeted well past midnight. "If Nitish Ji is proud of his moral values & honesty, He would not had been in midnight rush to stake claim for govt. Honest man doesn't fear," he said in a series of tweets. He claimed half of JD(U) MLAs were in touch with him which forced Kumar to rush to Raj Bhavan at midnight to stake claim to form the 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. 

 "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.

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. He said since the people's mandate to the grand alliance was for a five-year term, it should be respected. Tensions simmered between the two alliance partners ever since the CBI registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his wife and former chief minister Rabri devi and son Tejashwi in a land-for-hotels case. The offence was allegedly committed when Lalu was the railway minister in the UPA government. He was allegedly instrumental in handing over the maintenance of two hotels of Indian Railways-owned PSU ICRTC to two Patna businessmen in return for a prime plot of land in the Bihar capital where his family is now constructing a shopping mall.

Lalu gave a new twist to Kumar's resignation, saying a pending case against him and not the differences over corruption charges against Tejashwi was at the root the the JD(U) leader's "resignation drama". In the 1991 Lok Sabha polls, a man named Sitaram Singh was killed at a polling station in Pandarak and Nitish Kumar is among the accused. He had made a mention of the case in the affidavit he filed while contesting the Legislative Council election, Lalu told a press conference. He claimed a court in Barh had taken cognizance of the charges against Kumar in 2009 and that the case was still alive in the Patna High Court.

"Nitish knew that he was soon going to be hauled up by the court and will have to quit in any case. He made the Tejashwi issue a ruse to exit before that happens," the RJD boss claimed. He slammed Kumar for seeking explanation from Tejashwi over graft charges against him, saying "We will give the documents to CBI. Who are they to ask for it? Has Tejashwi engaged in any act of corruption as a minister in Bihar?" "There is the involvement of Narendra Modi in all this.

Nitish has slapped the people of Bihar and now people like Sushil Modi (a top state BJP leader and former deputy chief minister) are eager to form government with JD(U)," he said. Replying to a question, Lalu said he had not sacrificed the grand alliance government for "love of his son". "We were the largest party in the grand alliance. Tejashwi got the post of the deputy chief minister. We had the mandate of the people," he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister J P Nadda and BJP general secretary Anil Jain were being rushed to Patna as observers for a meeting of the party legislators.