Nitish Kumar to decide on resignation Monday

Nitish Kumar will decide Monday if he wants to stay on as Bihar chief minister, a post he quit Saturday after his party was reduced to two Lok Sabha seats in the general election.

Kumar was initially adamant on not withdrawing his resignation, but Sunday sought time till Monday to reconsider his decision after Janata Dal (United) workers said they will not accept anyone else and asked him to withdraw the resignation.

All eyes are now on the JD-U legislature party meeting Monday where Nitish Kumar may announce his decision to take back his resignation or he might press for the selection of a new leader.

A senior party leader close to Kumar told IANS here that he is adamant and does not want to change his stand.

"By resigning as chief minister, Nitish Kumar played a master stroke that not only reunited the party leaders and workers, but also led to widespread demands by all sections of people across Bihar that he should continue for the sake of development," he said.

Another legislator said the party has no value without its brand name, which is Nitish Kumar.

"In all likelihood, Nitish Kumar will relent as JD-U legislators have made it clear they are against electing any other leader," JD-U legislator Sanjay Singh said.

JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the party legislators had expressed full faith in Nitish Kumar and decided to re-elect him as their leader.

The JD-U won only two of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats -- as against 20 seats in 2009, when it was in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The JD-U parted ways with the BJP last year ending a 17-year-long alliance.