Manas Dasgupta
PATNA, Aug 9: The Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday submitted the resignation of his ministry to the governor Phagu Chauhan ending the three-year old Janata Dal (United) – BJP alliance in the state.
“I have resigned in deference to the wishes of all of our party MLAs who favoured the party to come out of the NDA umbrella,” Kumar told the waiting media persons outside the Raj-Bhavan after submitting his resignation.
Kumar is expected to form a new ministry in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress combine and is likely to stake his claim by Tuesday evening. The left parties are also set to extend their support and join the new ministry to be headed by Nitish Kumar.
The JD(U) – RJD- Congress combine will have the strength of 143 members in the 243-member Bihar Assembly but Kumar is expected to submit a list of 161 MLAs supporting him. In the new format, RJD”s Tejshwi Yadav may be offered the deputy chief ministership and the post of the speaker may also go to the RJD which with 79 members is the single largest party in the Bihar Assembly.
The Congress which has 19 members in the House is also learnt to have staked claims for some important ministries including a deputy chief minister’s post. However, though the draft of the new format is learnt to be ready, details of the nitty-gritties in forming the new alliance are to be worked out later, the party sources said.