RJD says Tejashwi Yadav won’t resign as Deputy CM, ball now in Nitish court

NEW DELHI: Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav sought to dig in his heels in the wake of a corruption case filed by the CBI, with his party Rashtriya Janata Dal (United) headed by his father Lalu Prasad backing him, while CM Nitish Kumar remained silent on the crisis facing the ruling coalition.

Kumar may speak his mind on the issue at the meeting of his party MLAs on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said, after the Lok Samvad programme where he interacts with media persons was cancelled on Monday.

RJD leaders, including MLAs, who met in Patna on Monday, unanimously passed a resolution appreciating Yadav’s leadership and work as deputy CM, and made it clear that Yadav will not resign from his post.


“There has been an attempt to finish us. But it will not happen. We will emerge like in the past,” RJD’s Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the state finance ministertold the media after the meeting. Former minister Jagdanand Singh, who accompanied Siddiqui at the press conference, said the CM had spoken to the RJD chief on the previous evening, without revealing any details of the conversation. JD(U) refrained from commenting on the developments.

On being contacted, the party spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, “Our CM Nitish Kumarji believes in politics with a difference. So, please wait.” “Remember, his actions against RJD leaders like Mohammed Shahabuddin and Raj Ballabh Yadav during his present tenure as CM. He has even initiated action against his own party leaders. I hope he will speak his mind at the party meeting tomorrow,” a person close to the CM said.