Patna: In a sudden move, Minister for SC and ST Welfare Santosh Suman on Tuesday resigned from the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) announced here. Suman is currently the national president of HAM, which was founded by his father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former Chief Minister of Bihar.
It was not immediately known whether the resignation was accepted. Sources in 'Mahagathbandhan', the ruling alliance in the state, however, said that even if HAM, a four MLA-strong party, pulls out of the coalition, it would not have a bearing on the survival of the government.
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When Santosh Suman was asked about the reason for his resignation from the Cabinet, Suman said, "There was a lot of pressure and we were continuously asked to merge our party with JD (U) and this offer was not acceptable to our leadership. The existence of my party was under threat so instead of merging, we thought of resigning from the Cabinet. We have struggled a lot from the party and there was no possibility of merging it."
"I have sent my resignation to the Chief Minister and personally met Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (senior JD (U) leader and minister) to explain my point. I hope my resignation will be accepted. We are, though, not pulling out of the Mahagathbandhan," Suman told reporters. Speaking to the reporters at a press conference, Suman said, "They didn't invite us (the grand Opposition meeting on June 23). They don't recognise us as a party, how will they invite us." (PTI)
