Highlights
- Bihar minister Kartik Kumar resigned amid protests over kidnapping accusations
- His resignation came amid protests over his alleged links with a kidnapping case in 2014
- Bihar Revenue Minister Alok Kumar Mehta has been given an additional charge for Sugarcane Industry
Bihar minister Kartik Kumar, who was earlier in the day moved from the Law ministry to the sugarcane department, resigned Wednesday evening. His resignation came amid protests over his alleged links with a kidnapping case in 2014. Replacing him, Bihar Revenue Minister Alok Kumar Mehta has been given an additional charge for the Sugarcane Industry Ministry.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had accepted the resignation of the leader from the RJD alliance.
The opposition BJP had been demanding Kumar’s removal from the cabinet, alleging that an arrest warrant was pending against him in a 2014 kidnapping case.
The Congress and CPI-ML (Liberation), constituents of the ruling Grand Alliance, had also asked the Nitish Kumar government to reconsider the decision of inducting Kartik Kumar into the cabinet.
Kartik Master is very close to jailed Bahubali leader Anant Singh of Mokama. He won the MLC seat of Patna under urban local body a few months ago on the ticket of RJD.
Reactions from BJP
BJP's Sushil Modi, who was the first one to react to Kumar's resignation wrote on Twitter, "The first wicket has just fallen. Many more wickets will fall now."
The Nitish Kumar government had come under fire from all quarters after Kartik Master took the oath of cabinet minister on August 16 despite Danapur sub-divisional court issuing a warrant against him. The opposition party leaders had cornered the state government for making a tainted MLC as law minister. Kartik Master has neither surrendered before the court nor applied for anticipatory bail.
