Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday accepted the resignation of state Industries and Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha, who had put in her papers on Monday, after all attempts to persuade the minister to stay on in the Cabinet failed.
“The Chief Minister has accepted the resignation and forwarded it to the Governor,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Renu’s resignation, which followed her husband Vijay Singh joining the BJP on Monday at the rally addressed by Narendra Modi in Purnea, could not have come at a more inopportune time for Nitish, with the Lok Sabha polls fast approaching.
“I found it immoral to continue in the government when my husband had joined the BJP. So I have resigned from the government but I’m still in the party,” she said.
According to party sources, Nitish tried his best to talk her out of the move in the best interests of the party.
State JD(U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh said, “She has taken the decision in a hurry. In a democratic system there is no harm in the husband and wife remaining in different parties.” However, he confirmed that Renu had not resigned from the JD(U).
Sources close to the former minister said she had felt that both the party and the government were ignoring her. Moreover, the party had overlooked her claims for the Khagaria LS seat, which she had won on a JD(U) ticket in 1999.