On 28th January, the Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation to the Governor, Rajendra Arlekar, at Raj Bhavan at around 11 AM. After submitting the resignation, Kumar interacted with the media and explained the reason behind the move. He said that the political situation in the state changed as “everything was not alright”. He added that he tried to make things work but couldn’t.
#WATCH | Patna | Bihar outgoing CM and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar says, "Today, I have resigned as the Chief Minister and I have also told the Governor to dissolve the government in the state. This situation came because not everything was alright…I was getting views from… pic.twitter.com/wOVGFJSKKH
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2024
Nitish Kumar said, “Today, I have resigned as the Chief Minister, and I have also told the Governor to dissolve the government in the state. This situation came because not everything was alright…I was getting views from everyone. I listened to all of them. Today, the government has been dissolved.”
BJP MP and former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi commenting on the development said, “We welcome Nitish Kumar’s decision. We knew that the RJD-JDU alliance was an unnatural alliance and would not last long. We are happy and now JDU And BJP will together form the government. I hope that the new government will be formed in the next 2-3 hours…”
#WATCH | BJP MP and former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi says, "We welcome Nitish Kumar's decision. We knew that the RJD-JDU alliance was an unnatural alliance and would not last long. We are happy and now JDU And BJP will together form the government. I hope that the new… pic.twitter.com/DBD3AbYU21
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2024
State BJP chief Samrat Chaudhary has been selected as leader of the BJP Legislative Party. He said, “BJP did a historic thing for my life…This is an emotional moment for me to have been elected as the Leader of the Legislative Party to be a part of the government…The mandate that we received in 2020 for the development of Bihar and to end the terror of Lalu Yadav – when the BJP received the proposal from Nitish Kumar to ensure that there is no jungle raj in Bihar and Sanjay Jha came here as his ambassador, we decided to support it…”
#WATCH | Patna | After being elected as the Leader of the Legislative Party, state BJP chief Samrat Chaudhary says, "BJP did a historic thing for my life…This is an emotional moment for me to have been elected as the Leader of the Legislative Party to be a part of the… pic.twitter.com/NYq6GKp8Ht
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2024
In the morning, Kumar met Janata Dal (United) MLAs, after which he went to Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation. The 18-month-old alliance with Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress under Mahagathbandhan ended in the state.
The 243-member Bihar Assembly is composed of 45 members of JD(U). With the BJP and HAM(S) in support, the NDA’s total will now stand at 127, five seats above the necessary halfway point of 122 to establish a majority in the house. Furthermore, Sumit Kumar Singh, an independent lawmaker who currently serves as a cabinet minister in the Nitish-led administration, supports the JD(U), and his support will bring the number to 128.
Kumar has returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Reportedly, he will take oath as the next Chief Minister of the state at 5 PM as the preparations for the ceremony have already started at the Raj Bhavan. Two deputy chief ministers, including Sushil Modi, will be from BJP. The other name is yet to be finalised. The BJP MLAs have already signed their letter of support.
