Breaking: Nitish Kumar quits as the chief minister of Bihar

Cites inability to work because of growing strains within the ruling coalition for his decision

Amid differences with alliance partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nitish Kumar on Wednesday resigned as the chief minister of Bihar, citing inability to work because of the strains within the coalition. 

“I have resigned for the sake of Bihar. Given the changing circumstances in the state, it has become impossible for the alliance to work. I never demanded that anyone in the government should quit. But if there have been allegations, it is imperative for the person concerned to make a statement and come out clean," Kumar said.

The development follows the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s firm stand earlier in the day that his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav would not resign. 

Prasad’s RJD is in the government in the state in alliance with Kumar’s JD(U) and the Congress Party. After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently lodged a first information report (FIR) against Tejashwi Yadav in the land-for-hotels case, there had been demands for him to quit the government.

Soon after Kumar's resignation announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate him for his efforts to act against corruption. He said: