Amid speculations that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may break alliance with RJD and Congress, reports claimed that he may submit his resignation by Sunday morning to form a new government with the support of the BJP.
In the 243-member state assembly, Nitish’s JD(U) has 45 MLAs, which would mean that the Mahagathbandhan would fall eight members short of majority if the chief minister swapped alliance.
In the ruling front, the RJD has 79 MLAs and the Congress 19. The BJP has 78 seats.
News agency PTI quoted a source close to the chief minister as saying that though the possibility of resignation by late Saturday evening could not be ruled out, "it would definitely take place by Sunday morning".
Nitish, who is also the JD(U) president, is likely to hold a legislature party meeting before putting in his papers.
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The source told PTI that government offices like the secretariat have been asked to remain open on Sunday "in view of hectic activity expected during the day", which may see a new government with the BJP's support.
The reports of Nitish planning to break its alliance with RJD and Congress have come as another major blow to the INDIA bloc which had already suffered setbacks after the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party decided to go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Punjab, respectively.
Interestingly, it was Nitish who initiated the process of forming a grand opposition bloc to take on the BJP in the general elections.
Meanwhile, the BJP has not yet made any formal announcement on the support to Nitish in the event of his pulling out of the Mahagathbandhan. Leaders of party’s state unit met in Patna on Saturday afternoon to discuss the political situation.
“We have come here to deliberate on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The current situation in Bihar will also be taken up for discussion,” state BJP president Samrat Choudhary told reporters.
