In a major development, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar requested a meeting with the Governor this morning. According to reports, Nitish is expected to resign on Sunday, ending his 18-month ruling coalition with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. 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,” which might result in a new administration with the BJP’s backing.
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 MPs from its majority in the assembly.