PATNA, 1 March 2005 — Chief Minister Rabri Devi yesterday resigned after the mauling of her party Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) in the assembly elections but said that secular forces would come together to form the next government.
Accompanied by RJD chief and her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav, she handed over her resignation to state Governor Buta Singh who asked her to continue till alternative arrangements were made.
In her resignation letter she said that she was resigning because RJD, which secured 75 seats in the 243-member assembly, has failed to secure complete mandate. However, she said secular parties would come together to form the next government.
Lalu said the RJD legislature party would meet to elect its leader and would hold consultations with secular parties before staking claim to form the next government. While the RJD won 75 out of the total 215 seats it contested, its prepoll allies CPI and NCP won three seats each and CPI-M one.
Congress has pocketed 11 seats, while the Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) has emerged as a kingmaker winning 29 seats.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won a total 93 seats
Lalu claimed that he had the required number of MLAs to form the next government with other UPA allies. “I have the required number of MLAs to prove RJD’s majority in the state assembly. The next government will be of the RJD with support of other UPA allies, including the Left parties and the NCP,” he said.
Asked whether he would seek support from the LJP, he said: “You will come to know about it at an appropriate stage.”
“But I will like to make it clear that the mandate is in favor of the secular parties and all of us should come together to keep the communal forces at bay,” he said.
Despite a fractured mandate, Lalu ruled out the possibility of imposition of president’s rule in Bihar. “In a democracy, elections are held to elect a government and not to impose president’s rule ... It will be a mockery of democracy.”
However, adamant on his stand, LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan reiterated his opposition to the RJD and BJP. He, however, termed president’s rule as a “last option.”
Paswan said that he would explore ways for installing a “non-RJD, non-BJP” government in the state.
By saying this, Paswan has signalled a possibility of a postpoll alliance with the JD (U) if it parts ways with BJP.“President’s rule can be considered as the last option in case of failure of any combinations to cobble together a majority to form the next government,” Paswan told reporters here.
