In a major development, Janta Dal (United) Chief Nitish Kumar on Sunday tendered his resignation as Bihar's Chief Minister to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, thus ending his 18-month ruling coalition with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. Kumar is likely to form new state government with BJP's backing. After submitting his resignation, JDU Chief Nitish Kumar stated that he has asked the Governor to dissolve the state government.
Earlier, an official told PTI that government offices, including the secretariat, had been ordered to remain open on Sunday "in view of hectic activity expected during the day."
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Top Points
1. Nitish Kumar is expected to address a meeting of JD(U) MLAs around 10 a.m. today before proceeding to Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation, according to party sources, PTI reported.
2. K C Tyagi, JD(U)'s political adviser and spokesperson, warned reporters in Delhi that Bihar's grand coalition government is on the verge of collapse, accusing a portion of the Congress leadership of continually "insulting" Kumar. "The INDIA bloc is on the verge of collapse. The alliance of INDIA bloc parties is almost over in Punjab, West Bengal and Bihar," he said.
3. All three major political parties in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), continued to meet with their lawmakers on Saturday. Until late evening, heated debates raged in the JD(U), which blamed the Congress for insulting Kumar, in the BJP, on how to welcome Kumar back, and in the RJD, the largest party in the legislative assembly, on how not to give ground in any circumstance that arose in Bihar on Sunday.
4. BJP head JP Nadda would visit Patna today, as JD(U) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to resign. The state BJP has also called a meeting today to discuss the developments.
5. With 79 MLAs, the RJD is the largest party in the Bihar legislature and a member of the Mahagathbandhan, which also includes the Congress and three Left parties. If Nitish Kumar's JD(U) withdraws, the Mahagathbandhan loses eight MLAs from its majority in the assembly.
6. RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha stated after a party meeting on Saturday that "all leaders unanimously authorised the party supremo (Lalu Prasad) to take any decision regarding the developments that may take place today [Saturday] or tomorrow [Sunday]".
7. Following Nitish Kumar's resignation, the BJP will conduct its own legislative party meeting. According to reports, this would be followed by a combined meeting between the JDU and BJP parliamentary parties.
8. On Saturday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge claimed he had no knowledge that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) were leaving the INDIA group of the Opposition.
9. Amid rumours that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may switch sides by withdrawing his party JD(U) from the 'mahagathbandhan', BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal has stated that the INDIA Alliance may also break down in Maharashtra. "INDIA Alliance will break in Maharashtra too. This was a strategic posturing by the Congress to show that the party was solely standing against the BJP and PM Modi, and Rahul Gandhi was the only opposition," Agrawal said on Saturday.
10. In New Delhi, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan "strongly" addressed his party's concerns and obtained "assurances" in a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda on Saturday, amid widespread speculation that Nitish Kumar might reunite with his erstwhile ally. Paswan told reporters that he would wait to see whether the JD(U) president joins the BJP-led alliance before deciding his party's position on the topic. The late Ram Vilas Paswan's son declined to share what Shah and Nadda informed him regarding state political happenings.