Nitish Kumar says he couldn't 'tolerate corruption' in RJD anymore, quit alliance after ally refused to come clean

Speaking at a press conference in Patna for the first time since JD(U) joined hands with BJP to form a government in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar defended his decision to split from RJD and Congress, saying he couldn’t “tolerate the corruption” in the RJD.

“How can I make compromises on my drive against corruption? I have been cleaning the system and reducing crime. I tolerated a lot, but I couldn’t tolerate corruption in RJD. I just couldn’t stay in the alliance with RJD any longer when raids started taking place,” Nitish said, referring to the CBI raids on Lalu Pasad Yadav’s properties on 7 July regarding corruption charges against the RJD chief, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav, who was also the deputy chief minister in Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet before the Mahagathbandhan break. [caption id=“attachment_3859357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nitish Kumar speaks to the media after resigning as chief minister last week. PTI[/caption] Nitish Kumar also spoke about his prolonged silence on the issue, saying he stayed away from the limelight on account of his ill health. “I was unwell. I had high fever, so I was recuperating away from office. That is why I couldn’t immediately issue a comment,” he said. He further hit out against Lalu Prasad and son Tejashwi, and said they should have “come clean” when the raids took place. “When CBI held raids, they (RJD) should have come clean. The public would have felt better knowing that everything is out in the open. But when they didn’t declare their version of things, the media started questioning me,” Nitish said. He claimed he wanted people to know the truth. “To claim you are innocent will win you support of your supporters, but everybody else demands explanations,” he said. He also added that he told his former deputy chief minister to come clean when the latter met him personally. “Tejashwi met me personally and asked me to explain things. I said I have no expertise in property matters. I told him to come clean. I don’t understand technical details in the chargesheet, but the general public at large does, and this clarification would help them,” Nitish said. The JD(U) chief had earlier  hit back at the RJD and Congress, saying he cannot be with people who were using secularism to hide their “sins” and wealth earned through corrupt means. “The mandate is to serve the people and not to profit (Mandate janta ki seva ke liye tha, na ki rajbhog, mewa ke liye). The people’s court is the biggest court and it is my duty to serve them but I can’t serve one family,” Nitish had said in his 10-minute speech in Bihar Assembly in support of the confidence motion moved by him for his new government with the NDA. He  won the trust vote  comfortably with 131 votes against the opposition’s 108. Nitish resigned on Wednesday, and took oath the very next day with BJP’s support. His decision to move split from RJD and Congress invited outrage from MLAs, including those from his own party.