RJD single largest party, why can't we form govt in Bihar, asks Tejashwi Yadav

Patna: Amid political drama in Karnataka over government formation, the opposition parties in other states including Bihar has decided to launch a massive protest against the BJP.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday announced to revive their agitation in protest of the Karnataka Governor’s decision of inviting BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa to form the government.

Declaring that he will parade his party’s MLA before the Governor of Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Bihar Governor should follow the precedent of his Karnataka counterpart and dissolve the Nitish Kumar government.

“I will be meeting the state governor on Friday along with MLAs as we are the single largest party in Bihar. The rule should be equal for everyone but what we are seeing here is that rules are being bent for a single party”, Leader of the opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Yadav said in a tweet on Thursday.

Tejashwi Yadav also urged other opposition parties to unite and protest against the “formation of government in Karnataka in the most undemocratic way”.

RJD’s take on the issue was that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar violated the mandate by leaving the grand secular alliance and “forming an undemocratic government with BJP” which was defeated during 2015 state assembly elections. 

RJD had emerged as a single largest party with 80 seats in 2015 assembly elections while JD (U) was second with 71 seats and Congress Party 27 seats.

The alliance, however, did not last long as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dumped the grand secular alliance and formed a government with the BJP in July 2017 on grounds that his Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav’s name had figured in the FIR registered by CBI in connection with the Benami land deals.

“The formation of government in Karnataka is undemocratic and to protest this murder of democracy we have decided to launch a day-long protest in Patna. We will also observe this day as a black day,” Tejashwi Yadav said.

RJD leaders are of the view that the Congress party in Karnataka should have entered into a pre-poll alliance with JD (S).

“Time has come when all secular parties must come on one platform to stop BJP in the 2019 general elections”, RJD Vice President Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said.