After Nitish resigns, BJP says 'not in favour of mid-term polls'

NEW DELHI: The BJP does not favour mid-term polls in Bihar and wants all legislators to complete their term, senior party leader Sushil Modi said today just after Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister. "We are happy that Nitish Kumar did not compromise on the issue of corruption and did not bow down to the RJD. The BJP is not in favour of mid-term polls and wants that all MLAs complete their term," he told reporters. At a meeting of the state BJP, it was decided that Sushil Modi and some other leaders will apprise the central party leadership of the developments. In an unexpected event in Bihar politics, Nitish said he had quit in the interest of the state after failing to resolve a crisis plaguing the ruling Grand Alliance. "I have resigned for the sake of Bihar," the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader told the media after meeting Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi who accepted his resignation. He made it clear that it was becoming difficult to continue to head the coalition of his party, the RJD -- whose Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is facing corruption charges -- and the Congress. Bihar has been in the grip of a political crisis after the CBI registered a case against RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in a benami property case and also raided his premises earlier this month. The BJP had earlier offered outside support to JDU in Bihar if Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suspends his deputy. Sources said Nitish wanted Tejashwi to quit as Deputy Chief Minister following corruption allegations against him. However, Tejashwi was adamant to keep the post. The ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, comprising JDU, RJD and Congress, is headed by Nitish Kumar. With 80 MLAs, the RJD is the biggest constituent of the Grand Alliance with 71 of the JD(U) and 27 of the Congress. The BJP led NDA has 58 members in the 243-member state Assembly. Statistics of number of seats and majority: There are a total of 243 MLAs in Bihar assembly Number of seats required to form majority is 122 Number of RJD MLAs is 80 Number of JDU MLAs is 71 Number of Congress MLAs is 27