It's for Nitish to decide on allying with BJP: Minister

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said it was for Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, who resigned as the Bihar Chief Minister, to decide whether he wanted to ally with the BJP to form the new government in the state.

"The break-up was bound to happen. There is no place for honesty and moral values in Lalu Prasad's politics. There was no coordination... convenience was the only reason for the alliance (between JD-U and Rashtriya Janata Dal). Such alliance does not work long," the Union Minister for Law and Justice said here after Nitish Kumar's resignation.

On the possibility of the Bharatiya Janata Party extending support to Nitish Kumar to form the new government, he said: "It is for Nitish Kumar to decide his future course. Nitish Kumar remained a minister in Atalji's government (at the Centre). He governed Bihar with the help of the BJP for eight years. We did not leave him, but he left us in 2013."

The Minister said Lalu Prasad had made it clear that his son Tejashwi Yadav would not resign from the state Cabinet after allegations of graft.

Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said he quit as the Chief Minister in the state's interest after failing to resolve the crisis plaguing the ruling Grand Alliance.

--IANS

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