Patna, May 19 – As the political drama unfolds in Bihar, JDU chief Sharad Yadav on Monday said the decision of Nitish Kumar to quit as Chief Minister is “final”. Yadav said this ahead of the the JD(U) legislature meeting to discuss the ongoing situation after Nitish said on Sunday he needed time till Monday to decided on the plea by JD(U) MLAs that he should withdraw his resignation and continue in office.
“The decision (Nitish Kumar’s resignation) is in favour of the nation, the party and Nitish ji. It was a difficult decision but is final and right,” he said. Yadav also ruled out taking support of Lalu Prasad’s RJD in formation of a new government in Bihar.
“No. Never we have taken and there is no question of taking support from him,” he said when asked if the ruling JD(U) will take the support of RJD. The political crisis in Bihar arising out of the resignation of Nitish as chief minister following the severe drubbing that JD-U suffered in the Lok Sabha elections remained unresolved yesterday with the party failing to elect its “new” leader.
Here is the live blog:
12.43 pm: It is his (Nitish Kumar’s) personal decision, if a fresh letter of support is needed our President will decide that: Shakeel Ahmad
11.54 pm: Lets wait for developments, but I maintain BJP shouldn’t be allowed to grab power in Bihar: D Raja on Bihar politics
11.50 pm: Nitish ji’s stand is right, he should stick to his stand: Satish Kumar, JDU
11.49 pm: Whatever we decide next will be shared with you then: Sharad Yadav
11.45 pm: Decision (Nitish Kumar’s resignation) is in favor of nation, party & Nitish ji, was difficult decision but is final and right: Sharad Yadav
11.40 pm: Bihar wont develop under Nitish Kumar, a new leadership is required: Ashwini Chaubey, BJP
11.38 pm: Nitish Kumar took a good step, a responsible step. I hope it is not a political drama: Rashid Alvi, Congress
11.30 pm: If Nitish Kumar resigned on a moral ground, moral ground doesn’t shift in a day: Ravindra Rai
11.25 pm: Nitish Kumar doesnt run after power: Sanjay Singh (JDU)
11. 24 pm: Nitish Kumar ji bahut bade draamabaaz hain, ek game plan karke istifeh ka natak kiya hai: Ram Kripal Yadav
11.23 pm: This is JDU’s internal matter, once it clears up we will decide what role to play: Manoj Jha, RJD
11.20 pm: This political drama was to divert the rift in their party (JDU): Nand Kishore Yadav on Bihar politics
11.00 pm: JDU is now in an ICU, and they wont come back from this coma: Giriraj Singh (BJP)
10.59 pm: All JD(U) MLAs insisted that Nitish should continue, but he refused to do so and sought time till tomorrow. Many of the legislators even threatened to sit on dharna if he refused to withdraw his resignation, party spokesman Sanjay Singh told reporters yesterday on a day of fast-paced political developments.
Even as JD(U) MLAs were holding a meeting, a BJP delegation met Governor D Y Patil and asked him to insist on a parade of individual MLAs and written support of all supporting parties if Nitish again staked claim to form government in the state.
Political temperature in Bihar rose amidst reports of efforts at realignment of old ‘Janata Parivar’ with Lalu Prasad and arch rival Nitish coming together to form a strong government in Bihar to keep communal forces away from power. There were reports of Yadav and even Nitish talking to Prasad. But, the RJD chief told reporters that these were “baseless and concocted” and denied talking to either of them.
-INDIA TODAY
