NEW DELHI, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chief Minister of the eastern Indian state of Bihar Nitish Kumar Tuesday resigned from his post and thus broke his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"Today after meeting with party leaders and lawmakers, it was unanimously decided that we should leave (the) National Democratic Alliance (NDA). So I have accepted the decision of everyone to leave the NDA and thus tendered my resignation from the post of chief minister," Kumar told media.
The NDA is a coalition headed by the BJP.
Earlier in the day, Kumar held a meeting with all his party leaders to discuss his next political moves.
Relations between Kumar's party, the Janata Dal (United), and the BJP hit a breakpoint over Kumar's concerns that federal home minister Amit Shah was working relentlessly to split the Janata Dal (United).
Reports said Kumar had fears that he would face a situation similar to former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, wherein he was forced to quit after a senior leader from his party rebelled against him with the support of the BJP.
Meanwhile, stung by Kumar's sudden decision to switch sides, the Bihar unit of the BJP accused him of betraying the people of the state.
"We fought the 2020 elections together under the NDA, the mandate was for the JD(U) and the BJP. We won more seats, despite that Nitish Kumar was made the chief minister. Whatever happened today is a betrayal of Bihar's people and the BJP," Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said during a press conference. ■