Bihar agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh on Sunday resigned from chief minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet by sending his papers to deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in what is seen as the first big crisis in the Grand Alliance government since its formation in August this year.
Sudhakar Singh did not comment on the reason behind his decision to resign, but his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Jagdanand Singh said he was probably not feeling comfortable pursuing the ‘BJP policies’ in the agriculture department.
There was no word from the deputy chief minister or the chief minister’s office till 3pm as to whether the resignation of Singh has been accepted or not.
“The deputy CM will deliberate on the matter of resignation sent by the agriculture minister. Right now, nothing more can be said,” said an aide of the deputy chief minister.
Two days ago, the agriculture minister had said the scrapping of the APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) Act and the ‘mandi system’ (wholesale markets for agricultural produce) was “anti-farmer” and demanded their restoration.
The Ramgarh MLA has been vocal against alleged rampant corruption in the agriculture department for the last one month and even embarrassed his own government by alleging in a public event that the officers in his department were thieves. “Being the minister of agriculture department, you can call me Choron Ka Sardar (leader of thieves),” he said.
“ He (Sudhakar) was not feeling comfortable in pursuing policies of the BJP in agriculture department and has taken the step in the interest of people and farmers. The RJD already has its clear policy on agriculture and there exists now a friction. We do not want that this fight to get more intense. This is why, he has resigned,” said the RJD state president, elaborating on the reason why his son had put in his papers.
Singh said the efforts to scrap the mandi system had got a rebuff at the national level when a sustained farmers movement forced the BJP led NDA government to repeal three contentious farm laws. “Sudhakar has been raising issues of farmers and he has taken the step in the interest of farmers and people,” Singh added.
Asked why the minister had not sent his papers to the chief minister, Singh said, “The deputy chief minister had recommended his name as a minister, So, it is proper the resignation papers were sent to Tejashwi.” There is no question of the agriculture minister withdrawing his resignation, he added.
Incidentally, Sudhakar Singh had faced attack from senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who sought the former’s removal from the cabinet alleging that Singh was accused of embezzling ₹5.31 crore in the 2013 rice scam.
JD (U) leader Upendra Kushwaha claimed Sudhakar Singh had said he would resign the day his leaders (Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav) ask him to do so. “He said he did not want any controversy and so he quit,” said Kushwaha.
People familiar with the matter in the RJD said the resignation move by Sudhakar, a first time minister, is a clear sign of the internal friction brewing between the RJD and the Janata Dal (United) and also an indication of how the RJD top brass wants more autonomy in the departments being held by ministers from the RJD quota.
The people said the resignation move by Sudhakar is also a message to the chief minister to modify some major policies in the government in accordance with the RJD’s manifesto, like scrapping the APMC Act. Sudhakar had opposed the continuation of the agriculture road map, one of the ambitious programmes launched by Nitish Kumar in 2000 when his party was part of the NDA.
Incidentally, the game of one-upmanship has begun within the GA with RJD state president recently claiming that Nitish Kumar would give the post of chief minister to Tejashwi in 2023 and move to the Centre to play a role in the national politics as a PM candidate of the combined Opposition ahead of the 2024 polls. The JD(U) strongly reacted to it even though the chief minister and the deputy CM downplayed Singh’s statement and asserted that ‘all is well ‘ in the GA government.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal said the agriculture minister’s resignation had once again proved how the chief minister does not like anybody raising any voice against the bureaucrats in the state as well as the internal friction rising between the RJD and JD(U).
“Sudhakar Singh had raised corruption in the agriculture department but it seems it did not go down well with the chief minister. Bureaucracy rules the roost in the Nitish government, Besides, this alliance is a coalition of opportunism where both the RJD and JD(U) are trying to upsmart each other. At the end, people of Bihar are suffering,” Jaiswal said.
RJD national principal secretary general, Shyam Rajak said the Grand Alliance government was running fine and there was no friction of any kind among its constituents. “Our coalition is strong,” he said without making any comment on the resignation by the agriculture minister.
Congress state spokesperson A Tripathi said there was nothing to comment on the reports of the agriculture minister’s resignation because it is not confirmed whether it has reached the CM’s office or has been accepted.
Nawal Kishore Choudhary, a political observer and former principal of Patna College, said the contention that the agriculture minister has resigned because he was opposed to a “BJP agenda” in his department is “nonsensical.”
“Why would chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is now busy uniting Opposition parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls, pursue a pro-BJP agenda. The reason why Sudhakar Singh has stepped down is apparently out of pressure because the CM and his deputy were feeling uncomfortable with Singh’s repeated attacks against corruption. Singh has been embarrassing the government, of late, by his straight talks about rampant corruption,” said Choudhary. ”It appears the RJD state president has silently buckled to pressure for his son’s resignation,” he added.
