Shakeel Ahmed: Politics doesn't allow someone to be criticised for owning moral responsibility for defeat

Congress leader, Shakeel Ahmed on Saturday termed that in politics it is not appropriate to criticise someone who has accepted moral responsibility for not getting the mandate as was desired.

Reacting to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to resign after accepting responsibility for the Janata Dal-United's defeat in the general elections, Ahmed said: "Assembly and parliament have different ways of working. Perhaps he may have thought that since the people did not give him the mandate in these polls and hence he has taken moral responsibility. There can be many reasons for his resignation; But I do not know what he wrote in his resignation letter. If somebody has taken moral responsibility in politics then one should not criticise it."

Kumar decided to step down from his post on Saturday afternoon after several ministers and Janata Dal (United) members of the legislative assembly squarely blamed him for the defeat of the party in the 2014 general elections.

Reports confirmed that Kumar had submitted his resignation to Bihar Governor Dr. D.Y. Patil.

Earlier on Saturday, internal bickerings surfaced within the JD-U, particularly over Kumar's decision to cut 17-year-long ties with the BJP last year, and this forced Kumar to consider submitting his resignation.

On Friday, in a terse statement, Kumar said that he "respected the mandate of the people" in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In an election where the BJP and JD(U) fought separately after their political divorce in 2013 over projecting Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial nominee of the BJP-led NDA, Nitish Kumar's party could win just two seats.

The JD-U Government is already in a minority in the Bihar State Assembly.

Kumar had been in power for the last nine years.