India’s Bihar CM stakes claim to form new government after BJP's support
International Desk
Nitish Kumar resigned as the chief minister of Bihar (India) on Sunday. The resignation comes after days of speculation over the leader eyeing another political switch to return to an alliance with the BJP.
After meeting the governor, he said, "I have resigned from the post of chief minister today. The new Grand Alliance that we created (in August 2022) is not in a good condition. The situation is not looking good."
Kumar's swearing-in ceremony is likely to happen today. Nitish Kumar will get two Deputy Chief Ministers from BJP, sources said. Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha will be his deputies, they added.
The Janata Dal (United) chief reached the governor's office and tendered his resignation at 11 am today. Earlier, he met MLAs from his party at his official residence.
With his resignation, Mr Kumar has exited the 28-party Opposition bloc INDIA and is all set to form a coalition with the BJP. Nitish Kumar is planning to sack ministers belonging to alliance partner and Lalu Yadav's party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), sources had told NDTV.
The BJP and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), have also finalised a seat-sharing agreement for the Lok Sabha election due in three months. All BJP MLAs in Bihar have already given letters of support to Nitish Kumar, sources had told NDTV.
BJP MLAs and MPs met today at 10 am at the party office in Patna to further chalk out the strategy over the latest political situation in Bihar. BJP President JP Nadda along with few other BJP leaders will also reach Patna by special charter flight at 3 pm today.
