Hours after Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar Chief Minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said that it was not in favour of any mid-term elections even as it continued to keep mum on extending support to the Janata Dal (United) leader.
"The Parliamentary board is of the opinion that the BJP does not favour midterm elections in Bihar. The BJP welcomes the battle against corruption in the state. The BJP is committed to the politics of development and stability," BJP leader and Union Minister J.P. Nadda said.
Nadda further said that a three member committee, comprising of state BJP leaders Sushil Modi, Nityanand Rai and Prem Kumar, has been constituted to report its view to the central leadership of the party.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushil Modi, while welcoming Nitish's decision, said, "The JD(U) has been consistent in its stand against corruption and the BJP has also expressed its support to Nitish on the same. We are happy that the Bihar Chief Minister didn't compromise on issue of corruption and did not kneel down before the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress."
Modi further said that the committee, based on views of state leadership, will decide its future course of action accordingly.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitish for his decision saying, "Huge congratulations to Nitish Kumar that he quit in the name of going against corruption. The 125 crore people of India support him."
Nitish handed over his resignation to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and confirmed it to the media even as he emerged after meeting him.
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"The Governor has accepted my resignation. I did everything a chief of a party in alliance should do. I myself have given away the post. Now, you will have to wait and see what happens next," he said.
"Lalu had told me to run the government that's in this distress. I never asked for anybody's resignation. I asked Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav to prove false the allegations slapped against them."
"It had become difficult for me to work in this enviroment. When I sided by demonetisation, they alleged me of having an ulterior motive. People had started believing falsely-reported things," he added.
Nitish also said that he met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too before taking this decision.
"Before resigning, I had informed Laluji and Congress Bihar in-charge C.P. Joshi," he said.
"I am not blaming anyone. Those who want to blame me are free to do so," he added.
Nitish also took a dig at Lalu Yadav and said, "Gandhiji always said needs can be met on the earth, but greed can never be fulfilled.