Bihar chief minister resigns, sparking speculation about political alliance

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of India’s northern state of Bihar, resigned on Wednesday night, raising speculation that he could be poised to announce a political alliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

The alliance would be a major political coup from the BJP and neutralize a politician who was seen as a potentially credible opposition challenger to the premier in the general elections due to be held in 2019.

In Bihar, Mr Kumar had led a “grand alliance” of opposition parties, including the enfeebled Congress, that had together inflicted a crushing electoral blow to the BJP in 2015, when it won Bihar’s state legislative assembly elections.

A political veteran who had won accolades for his efforts to modernise one of India’s most backward states during two previous terms as chief minister, Mr Kumar was also seen as a potentially unifying figure for India’s fragmented opposition parties ahead of the next parliamentary elections in 2019.

But in recent weeks, Bihar’s “grand alliance” had begun to fray over the corruption allegations against the son of alliance partner Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former chief minister who had himself been jailed for corruption.

Mr Kumar, who has a reputation for personal probity, had sought the resignation of Mr Yadav’s son, who was serving as the deputy chief minister, but the senior Mr Yadav had refused.

Fuelling further speculation of a major political realignment, Mr Modi took to Twitter to express his support for Mr Kumar’s move. “Many congratulations to Nitish Kumar for joining the fight against corruption,” the premier tweeted in Hindi. “The 1.25bn citizens of the country are supporting and welcoming his honesty.”

The love-fest continued as Mr Kumar tweeted in Hindi: “heartfelt thanks to the honourable prime minister for his reaction through his tweet on the decision that I have taken”.