Nitish Kumar to take oath as Bihar Chief Minister at 5 pm on Thursday

Nitish Kumar will take oath as the chief minister of Bihar on Thursday, a day after he resigned from the post citing corruption cases against RJD leaders of the Grand Alliance, including Tejashwi Yadav. Immediately after he stepped down, Kumar was offered support by the BJP, a former ally of the JD(U). Kumar will take oath tomorrow at 5 pm. The BJP has submitted its letter of support to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. Talking to the media, BJP leader Sushil Modi said his party is comfortable working under Nitish Kumar.

Earlier today, Kumar tendered his resignation to Tripathi following a meeting of JD(U) MLAs, in which the latter reportedly endorsed his decision to quit.

Meanwhile, taking to the media, Kumar said he took the decision to step down in the interest of the state. “Ever since the corruption charges were levelled against RJD leaders, we have been asking them to at least explain those charges. We also met Tejashwi and told him that the image that is being created, he should clarify all that. But this did not happen. The situation got so worse that it became difficult for me to work. We had followed the Gathbandhan Dharma and had tried to protect it. But now my conscience does not allow me to continue,” he said.

Kumar also said that he had spoken to Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, regarding the matter. “There are many Congress leaders in Bihar. We also asked them to find a solution to all this. So now I have decided to keep myself away,” he said.

The meeting on Wednesday was chaired by Kumar amid a rift with RJD over the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Kumar’s resignation came hours after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav reiterated that his Tejashwi would not step down. “Tejashwi Yadav will not resign, Nitish Kumar didn’t ask for his resignation,” Lalu had said at a press briefing. He had maintained that there is no bitterness between him and Kumar. “No bitterness between me and Nitish. Spoke to him yesterday. Media trying to crack our alliance,” Lalu Prasad added.

Following Kumar’s resignation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi for congratulating him on his decision. Nitish later took to Twitter to thank the PM.