Bihar Minister Sudhakar Singh, Who Alleged Corruption in Agriculture Dept, Resigns

Bihar agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh, who raised allegations of rampant corruption in his department which apparently tarnished Nitish Kumar government’s “corruption-free” image, has tendered his resignation.

Singh’s father and state RJD president Jagadanand Singh on Sunday said his son had lent his voice to the concerns of the farming community but sometimes, this is not enough. “Sacrifices have to be made. Therefore, the agriculture minister has sent his resignation letter to the government,” the RJD leader said, according to news agency PTI.

Jagadanand Singh also said that his son resigned from ministerial post because we did not want the rift to widen (hum nahin chahte hain ki ye ladaai aage badhe).

A first-term RJD MLA from Ramgarh, Sudhakar Singh had earlier termed officials and employees of his department “thieves”, and quipped that this made him “a chief of thieves”.

JD(U) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha said the development (Sudhakar Singh’s resignation) is not going to affect the stability of the government.

This is the second resignation of a minister after the multi-party Mahagathbandhan, which includes RJD, the CM’s JD(U), Congress, and the Left formed the government in August following Nitish Kumar’s exit from the NDA.

Earlier this month, Kartik Kumar, an RJD MLC who is facing allegations in connection with a 2014 kidnapping case, resigned as the Sugarcane Industry minister.

Former Deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Modi said two ministers resigned within two months and took a jibe at the Mahagathbandhan government, saying there is a fight going on between Jagadanand Singh and Nitish Kumar.

“Jagta Babu recently said that Tejashwi Yadav will become chief minister of Bihar in 2023 and Nitish Kumar will do national level politics. Now, he had to pay for this and resultantly his son resigned. This fight has now turned into a Jagta Babu vs Nitish Kumar fight. Could Jagta Babu also be the next wicket? he asked.

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said Sudhakar Singh had been raising his voice against afsarshahi’ (bureaucratic high-handedness). This is something that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cannot tolerate. Hence he has been made to resign, he said.

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