Nitish Kumar quits: Four things that can now happen in Bihar

A host of possibilities have opened up with the Bihar CM's resignation

A number of possibilities have opened up following Nitish Kumar's resignation as Bihar Chief Minister. Business Standard brings you four of them 

TEJASWI YADAV IS FORCED TO RESIGN: By quitting as CM, Nitish Kumar has made played the final card as the first move in his bid to maintain his image as a clean leader who has zero tolerance for unabashed corruption. Lalu Prasad Yadav who had not been anticipating this move by Nitish Kumar could well be forced to ask Tejaswi to step down as deputy chief minister of Bihar till Nitish is ready to accept him back. But given the fact that CBI cases drag for long, this may not come anytime soon 

BJP PROPS UP NITISH: Nitish Kumar has shared the dias many a times with PM Modi and realises that his clean image gels well with that of Modi. The BJP which has 27 less seats than the RJD may well be inclined to offer outside support to Nitish. This would be a win-win situation for the BJP for it would further buttress the party’s image as a torchbearer of clean and corruption free politics 

CONGRESS MEDIATES A SOLUTION: While Nitish and Lalu have are foes turned allies, the Congress which is a crucial although small link in this grand alliance has considerable experience in dealing with Lalu. After all, UPA-1 was a testament to Congress tolerance towards Lalu despite him being embroiled in various scams at the time. The time might be ripe for the Congress to intervene and re-assert its role as a party that may be down but certainly not out. 

TEJASWI MAY BE GIVEN A LOW PROFILE PORTFOLIO: While Lalu Prasad has been adamant that his son won’t quit as deputy chief minister, Nitish’s resignation could well force Lalu to arrive at a compromise solution without completely relinquishing power. This could involve Lalu bargaining for a berth other than that of deputy chief minister for his son. While Nitish hasn’t yet made it clear what he expects from Lalu, any compromise on these lines seems to be unlikely given the fact that a tainted Tejaswi in any role in the cabinet would be a blot on Nitish’s clean image