Picture Credit : The Indian Express
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on late Wednesday evening declared ‘unconditional support’ for Nitish Kumar, who only a few hours back resigned as the Bihar Chief Minister. In a day marked by dramatic developments.
Moments after Nitish resigned , Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitish Kumar sparking off the new political alliance . The JD(U) leader, for his part, thanked Modi for his support.
“Many, many congratulations to Nitish Kumar for joining the fight against corruption. The country’s 125 crore citizens welcome and support his move for honesty,” Modi tweeted.
“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.”
देश के, विशेष रूप से बिहार के उज्जवल भविष्य के लिए राजनीतिक मतभेदों से ऊपर उठकर भ्रष्टाचार के ख़िलाफ़ एक होकर लड़ना,आज देश और समय की माँग है
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2017
भ्रष्टाचार के ख़िलाफ़ लड़ाई में जुड़ने के लिए नीतीश कुमार जी को बहुत-बहुत बधाई।
सवा सौ करोड़ नागरिक ईमानदारी का स्वागत और समर्थन कर रहे हैं— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2017
After Modi’s Tweet, Nitish was quick to thanks the Prime Minister
हमने जो निर्णय लिया उसपर माननीय प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi के ट्वीट के द्वारा दी गई प्रतिक्रिया के लिए उन्हें तहेदिल से धन्यवाद.
— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) July 26, 2017
“Nityanand Rai ji and I called Nitish ji. The BJP has decided to support him. We will support the government formed under him. We will inform the governor also,” BJP leader Sushil Modi told ANI.
According to ANI news report, The BJP leader, however, maintained silence over the kind of support or place that would be given to Nitish, and said further decisions will be taken later. “We have accepted him as a BJP leader, and further decisions will be taken later,” he said.
Earlier, Modi, while welcoming Nitish’s decision, said, “The JD(U) has been consistent in its stand against corruption and the BJP has also expressed its support to Nitish on the same. We are happy that the Bihar Chief Minister didn’t compromise on issue of corruption and did not kneel down before the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.”
Modi further said that the committee, based on views of state leadership, will decide its future course of action accordingly.
“The Governor has accepted my resignation. I did everything a chief of a party in alliance should do. I myself have given away the post. Now, you will have to wait and see what happens next,” he said.
“Lalu had told me to run the government that’s in this distress. I never asked for anybody’s resignation. I asked Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav to prove false the allegations slapped against them.”
“It had become difficult for me to work in this enviroment. When I sided by demonetisation, they alleged me of having an ulterior motive. People had started believing falsely-reported things,” he added.
Nitish also said that he met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too before taking this decision. “Before resigning, I had informed Laluji and Congress Bihar in-charge C.P. Joshi,” he said. “I am not blaming anyone. Those who want to blame me are free to do so,” he added.
Nitish also took a dig at Lalu Yadav and said, “Gandhiji always said needs can be met on the earth, but greed can never be fulfilled.”
Earlier, the BJP had said that it was not in favour of any mid-term elections. BJP leader and Union Minister J.P. Nadda had said that a three-member committee, comprising of state BJP leaders Sushil Modi, Nityanand Rai and Prem Kumar, was constituted to report its view to the central leadership of the party.
The development came hours after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav earlier in the day took a jibe at Nitish Kumar, saying he was aware of his longtime friend’s party’s – Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) – growing bonhomie with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Lalu also gave a pointed reminder that his party has the most number of seats in the legislature. Addressing a press conference, he also said, “I made him the Chief Minister,” however, asserting that all was well with him. The CBI registered a corruption case against Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.
The RJD supremo, however, had refuted the allegations against him and called it a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP. Since then, the BJP had been mounting pressure on Nitish to oust Tejashwi Yadav from the party.
Various internal meetings in the JD(U) and the RJD has also been taking place, every now and then, fuelling the reports and rumours that Tejashwi would soon quit the Cabinet.
The RJD, including Tejashwi himself and Lalu Yadav, had been asserting that Tejashwi would not resign, come what may.
