Patna: After embarrassing his own government by raising allegations of corruption, Sudhakar Singh, Bihar’s agriculture minister, resigned earlier this week. The development was expected for some time, ever since he left a meeting with chief minister Nitish Kumar in a huff recently.
This is the second resignation from the state cabinet within two months of the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) – along with other parties – coming together to form the Mahagathbandhan government.
Earlier, law minister Kartik Kumar, also of the RJD, had to resign because of a 2014 kidnapping case against him, in which an arrest warrant was issued against him by a court.
In Bihar’s political circles, the resignation of two ministers within two months is being perceived as a sign that the political equation between the JD(U) and RJD is deteriorating. However, both sides maintain that all is well with the coalition government.
JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Wire, “There is no difference of any kind between RJD and JD(U), and the government will run collectively smoothly.”
Also read: Bihar: Agriculture Minister Resigns Days After Making Corruption Allegations
On the question of the two ministers resigning, he said, “Governance is a big issue and it is clear from the resignation of ministers that the government is not compromising on governance. When we were in alliance with BJP, the party was silent on Ramsurat Rai’s case. BJP leaders even tried to negotiate on him instead of removing him.”
Ramsurat Rai, a BJP MLA, was the minister of revenue and land reforms in the NDA government that came to power after the assembly elections in 2020. He had issued controversial orders to transfer circle officers at once, which had to be halted by Nitish Kumar. Angered by this, he threatened to resign.
The RJD, which was in the opposition then, had demanded the resignation of Rai, alleging that liquor bottles were recovered from his brother’s school.
What’s behind the resignations?
Former law minister Kartik Kumar is said to be close to ‘Bahubali leader’ and former MLA Anant Singh, who is currently lodged in jail in an arms case.
Kartik Kumar, an accused in an old kidnapping case, took the oath of office on the day he was supposed to surrender in court. Later, his lawyer took anticipatory bail from the court. But, due to all-around pressure, he had to finally step down as a minister.
Within a month of Kartik Kumar’s resignation, agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh has now quit.
Sudhakar Singh is the son of RJD state president Jagdanand Singh and was in the BJP before joining the RJD. He had contested the last assembly elections on a BJP ticket but was defeated. In the 2020 assembly elections, RJD gave him a ticket and he won.
Sudhakar Singh. Photo: Twitter/@_Sudhaker_singh
The story of Sudhakar Singh’s resignation begins with his statement three weeks ago, in which he had said that the officers of the agriculture department were “thieves” and because he was the head of the department, he felt like he was the “chief of thieves”.
He made this remark while addressing a public meeting in the Kaimur district and also said that a “[new] government has been formed but its working style is old”.
Also read: Nitish-Tejashwi Government Focuses on Less Politics and More Administration
In the cabinet meeting held in the aftermath of Singh making such a statement, Nitish Kumar had reportedly sought a reply and an explanation for his statement. However, Singh is learnt to have left the meeting midway without responding. He continued to make negative comments against Nitish Kumar and the government, including questioning Nitish’s ‘agriculture roadmap’.
After this, Nitish Kumar called on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to express his displeasure with Singh. In the immediate aftermath, Lalu sought the resignation of Singh.
Damage control
After the formation of the Mahagathbandhan government, statements made by some RJD leaders have ensured tensions between RJD and JD(U) leaders, indicating that a rough patch may lie ahead.
Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari said in a public meeting that Nitish Kumar should resign from the post of chief minister in 2025 and open an ashram and train political workers there.
Another RJD leader, Jagdanand Singh, said that Nitish will hand over power to Tejashwi Yadav next year and venture into national politics.
Almost similar statements were made by RJD leaders in 2017, when the previous coalition government that the JD(U) and RJD was in power. It collapsed soon after RJD leaders made such statements. Back then, late RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh often made scathing remarks against Nitish.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had criticised Nitish for bringing the liquor prohibition law in 2016, as part of the Mahagathbandhan government. Apart from this, he had also accused Nitish of helping the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections. He had described Nitish’s contact programme with people – Janata Darbar – as a “sham”.
Another influential RJD leader of the Seemanchal region, the late Mohd. Taslimuddin, had also said during the earlier JD(U)-RJD government that Nitish was unable to run the government and he should step down as CM.
Unlike in 2017, this time around, Tejashwi Yadav has been more nimble in controlling the damage caused by some loose canons in his party.
Recently, when RJD leader Jagdanand Singh criticised Nitish, Tejashwi was quick to caution his party men from making such statements and clarified that he was not in a hurry to lead Bihar as chief minister. He said he was happy working under Nitish Kumar. The party also issued directives to leaders, specifically telling them not to make any adverse public statements about the government.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. Photo: PTI
Even RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari was forced to publicly retract his statements, saying that he had said those only in a lighter vein.
“RJD is in no mood to take the risk of offending Nitish Kumar this time. This is the reason why the party publicly cautioned all the leaders to refrain from making such statements. Tejashwi himself had to publicly tell party leaders not to make such statements,” RJD leader Deepak Misra told The Wire.
Will the RJD-JD(U) alliance hold?
With the resignation of two ministers in quick succession and public criticism of Nitish by RJD leaders, doubts have emerged about the strength of the alliance in the days to come.
For now, political analysts do not see any major political fallout.
Senior journalist Manikant Thakur told The Wire, “Now, Nitish Kumar is politically very weak and he has no option [but to continue with the alliance]. So it is unlikely that he will leave the grand alliance.”
“The BJP is also not going to accept him again if he wishes to return to the NDA. So, he will remain with the RJD even if that party’s leaders keep criticising him,” he says.
Political analyst Soroor Ahmed says that political statements will keep coming from both the RJD and JD(U) leaders, but they will remain together because they need each other.
“Even when Nitish was with the BJP, he was attacked by saffron party leaders. There was hardly any intervention from the BJP’s central leadership. But with the RJD, Lalu Prasad Yadav himself is intervening,” he says.
He further added, “Those who are targeting Nitish Kumar may have their personal agenda. In the case of the RJD, only a few leaders have made statements against Nitish Kumar and the government. So, these statements should not be seen as the view of the RJD.”
