Patna, July 27 (IANS): Nitish Kumar on Thursday took oath as Bihar Chief Minister at the head of a JD-U-BJP government, within hours of dumping the Grand Alliance.
This is the JD-U President's second innings in the last two years. He snapped ties late on Wednesday with Grand Alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress over corruption charges against RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.
The Raj Bhavan here echoed with chants of "Nitish Kumar Zindabad" as Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi administered the oath to Nitish Kumar.
BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. The BJP offered support to Nitish Kumar after he resigned as Chief Minister on Wednesday.
Nitish Kumar took the oath in Hindi.
This is the JD-U's second innings with the BJP in the State. Nitish Kumar had in 2013 ended his party's association with the BJP after the party projected Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election.
We may approach Supreme Court, says Lalu:Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday said in Ranchi that his party was consulting legal experts and may approach the Supreme Court as the verdict in the SR Bommai case has not been followed while inviting Nitish Kumar to form government in Bihar.
"The SR Bommai case verdict clearly states that the largest party should be invited to form government. The majority is proved on the floor of the House. The RJD should have been invited. We have sought the opinion of Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani," Lalu Prasad told reporters here on Thursday.
"We suspected foul play when Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was called to Patna on Wednesday. We were given time by Raj Bhawan at 11 am today by spreading the rumour that the oath taking ceremony is at 5 pm. But the oath ceremony was scheduled at 10 am.
"We had sought time to stake claim to form the government. When our leaders met the Governor on Wednesday night he told us that the letter of oath taking was given to Nitish Kumar. The SR Bommai case directive has been overlooked in the case," Lalu Prasad said.
In the SR Bommai vs Union of India case in 1994, the Centre's capacity to dismiss a State government was curbed as per constitutional necessities. The judgement laid down that the only way to resolve internal issues within a State's administrative functioning would be by means of a floor test determining the support enjoyed by the party in power.
Lalu Prasad alleged that the entire political episode was fixed between the BJP and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar.
"The script was written six months ago. Nitish Kumar had met Narendra Modi and (BJP chief) Amit Shah. Nitish colluded with the BJP for my conviction in the fodder scam case."
He also alleged that Nitish Kumar is a murder accused. "Nitish is an accused in the murder of Sitaram Singh in 1991. The court has taken cognisance. Nitish Kumar must resign on moral grounds," he said.
Kerala JD-U rebels against Nitish for aligning with BJPThe Janata Dal-United (JD-U) unit in Kerala on Thursday opposed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for tying up with the BJP and announced it was severing ties with him.
The chief of the party's Kerala unit, MP Veerendra Kumar, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters in Delhi that he was even ready to quit the Upper House to pursue his fight against "fascist forces".
"Whatever the price, we're ready to pay," he said. "We are not accepting the JD-U joining the NDA and our relations with Nitish Kumar have ended. It's shocking that Nitish Kumar has joined the NDA. We all thought that he will fight the fascist tendencies but he has now become a part of it."
Veerendra Kumar said he expected JD-U senior leader Sharad Yadav and its MLAs in Bihar not to accept Nitish Kumar's decision. "I call upon Sharad Yadav and JD-U MLAs to say that we won't accept it."
He said he would go back to Kerala after the Vice Presidential election on August 5 and hold a meeting of the state council to decide the future course of action.
The Kerala unit of the JD-U has been upset ever since Nitish Kumar announced support to the NDA Presidential candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, a former Bihar Governor and now the President of the country. Party leader Varghese George said in the Kerala capital that he and his colleagues do not approve of Nitish Kumar's move.
Despite Nitish Kumar's support to Kovind, Veerendra Kumar voted for UPA nominee Meira Kumar, who lost the Presidential battle.
The JD-U has no member in the Kerala Assembly. In Kerala, it is a part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
Veerendra Kumar badly lost from Palakkad in the 2014 Lok sabha polls. He has been contemplating returning to the Left fold. With Nitish Kumar embracing the BJP, that may happen soon.
