This Minute Breaking News - Nitish Kumar Resigns as Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar on Wednesday resigned as Bihar Chief Minister following a standoff with ally Rashtriya Janata Dal throwing into tatters the anti-BJP Grand Alliance which came to power with an overwhelming majority in 2015.

Kumar met Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi at Raj Bhawan and submitted the resignation of his government hours after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav ruled out the resignation of his son and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav over a corruption scam.

Chief Minister's meeting with Governor comes after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav again ruled out the resignation of his son Tejashwi from the post of deputy chief minister and maintained that all is well in the Bihar Mahagathbandhan. 

Lalu, who addressed a press conference with wife Rabri Devi, accused the media of “inventing” cracks in the RJD-JD(U)-Congress Grand Alliance. 
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“We made the alliance and accepted him (Nitish Kumar) as the Chief Minister. We have no problem with that. But if he decides not to carry on with this responsibility, then it is his choice,” Lalu said.

Lalu, Rabri and Tejashwi have been booked by the CBI in a corruption case that dates back to 2005 when the RJD chief was the Union Railway Minister.

The case has dealt a big blow to the Bihar Mahagathbandhan with Nitish’s JD(U) insisting on Tejashwi’s resignation and the RJD and Congress opposed to the move.

Lalu, however, denied that Nitish had demanded Tejashwi’s resignation. “It is the media which is trying to create a rift. I am in touch with him (Nitish). In fact, I talked to him last night as well," he said. 

Minutes later, Tejashwi echoed his father’s statements. “This is a conspiracy not just against me and the party, but against the people of Bihar. The Mahagathbandhan continues to be strong. The people will answer the BJP,” the deputy CM told CNN-News18.

“The BJP is trying to destabilise governments in non-BJP states. The Mahagathbandhan is strong and will continue to be so,” he said. Rejecting demands for his resignation, Tejashwi indirectly questioned Nitish’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption. “When the Grand Alliance was formed, then too there were cases against my father. But such cases are politically motivated,” he said.