Bihar's New Deputy Chief Minister Explains Why BJP Supported Nitish Kumar

Bihar's newly sworn-in Deputy Chief Minister, Samrat Choudhary on Monday said that the National Democratic Alliance, which is now the ruling bloc in the state, will work to realise the unfulfilled dreams of the people under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar.

Addressing a press conference here, the deputy chief minister said that the state will move further towards the path of development due to the 'double engine' government.

Mr Choudhary, however, alleged that the situation that has engulfed Bihar since yesterday, when JD(U) snapped its ties from the grand alliance and joined hands with the NDA to form the new government, arose because the 'democracy was being ashamed' in Mahagathbandhan rule.

"You all witnessed the political situation in Bihar over the past 48 hours. We received a proposal from JD(U) yesterday seeking BJP's support in government formation. We supported because the situation that arose in Bihar, it left the democracy ashamed and efforts were made to break the JD(U). The alliance of JD(U)-BJP-HAM and other parties will work in the paths of development of the state," he said.

After a dramatic volte-face, ditching the Mahagathbandhan and the opposition bloc INDIA and forming a new government with the BJP, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, along with eight ministers--three each from the BJP and the JD-U, one from HAM and one independent--took oath on Sunday.

Two Deputy CMs from the BJP, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and six other ministers, including Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Santosh Kumar Suman, Shrawan Kumar, and others, also took the oath today.

Nitish Kumar cited the state of affairs being "not right" under the Mahagathbandhan alliance as his reason for quitting. He said that he has been receiving suggestions from everywhere, including his party workers, and he listened to all of them to come to this decision.

"I have resigned as the CM today and have asked the Governor to put an end to this government. Party leaders were giving me advice. I heard what they said and have resigned. The situation was not good. So, we have broken ties," Nitish Kumar told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan.

Meanwhile, after JD(U)'s return to the BJP-led NDA, the party's senior leader, KC Tyagi, said that Congress was focusing on getting hold of important posts, weakening the regional parties, while JD(U) was trying to strengthen the alliance.

KC Tyagi, while speaking to news agency ANI, said, "Coordination could not be established between INDIA parties. From the outside, everything appeared normal but Congress was doing politics with the alliance parties."

"While we were working to strengthen the alliance, Congress was busy grabbing the important posts. They were trying to weaken SP, DMK, TMC and other regional parties. Rahul Gandhi even once said that regional parties don't have an ideology. Due to this, we broke our association with the alliance," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)