Patna (Bihar): Questions were raised over the image of the new cabinet of Nitish Kumar after Mewalal Choudhary took the oath as a Minister. It was said that Nitish Kumar made Mewalal a minister out of his political compulsion, in spite of the latter having several cases of corruption against him.
One such case under sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120 (B) of IPS is regarding irregularities and corruption in the appointments and construction of a building when he was the vice-chancellor.
Mewalal was forced to resign under political pressure after there were protests voiced over his induction into the cabinet. After his resignation, questions are being asked whether Mewalal had become a blot on Nitish Kumar's clean image or he was forced to resign under the pressure of the BJP.
Nitish under pressure?
After resigning, Mewalal had shut himself in. Later, the JDU MLA said he took the decision keeping the image of Nitish Kumar in mind. He thus indicated that there was also pressure on him to resign. Moreover, he was given the portfolio of education which was the main election issue. It is an open secret that the education system in Bihar has worsened. The student-teacher ratio and the students-school ratio are highly skewed. There over 2,85,000 posts of teachers lying vacant. The school education plan of 2019 has not been implemented. The process of filling up 1,25,000 vacant posts of teachers is on hold because of several reasons.
Read: Bihar education minister Mewa Lal Chaudhary resigns over corruption taint
In such a situation, the induction of Mewalal as education minister had caused concern among those who had applied for jobs as teachers. The manner in which Tejashwi Yadav had cornered Nitish Kumar over the issue of education, it had become a compulsion and challenge to project the clean image of the education department.
BJP's stern stand
The Opposition has been on the offensive on the issue of health, education and security. Today, BJP which had given the slogan of 'development of all and support of all' shares power in Bihar with the JDU. As the second-largest party with 74 MLAs, BJP has been making tall claims about Bihar's development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has promised help to Bihar from the Centre for the state's development.
In such a situation, appointing a person facing corruption charges as the education minister would have adversely affected the image of Prime Minister Modi too. Questions were also raised against the BJP, whose MLAs had taken pledge in the party office before entering the state assembly, whether they would work with a corrupt education minister. This too put psychological pressure on Nitish Kumar.
Read: Ashok Chaudhary appointed Bihar Education Minister after Mewalal Choudhary steps down
Nitish had demanded resignation from RN Singh Manjhi
This has been a big political challenge for Nitish Kumar. When Nitish Kumar was the chief minister in 2005, he had been avoiding to accommodate in his cabinet those who had dubious antecedent. Earlier, Nitish Kumar had demanded resignation from RN Singh and from HAM party chief Jitanram Manjhi. Nitish Kumar had later clarified that Manjhi was asked to resign as there was a vigilance department case against him.
Resignation after name in a scam
Nitish Kumar, after becoming the chief minister for the seventh time, included Mewalal in his cabinet as education minister. He tendered his resignation just two hours after taking oath of office. Mewalal faces charge of irregularities in the appointment of assistant lecturers and junior scientists. Moreover, former IPS officer had written to DGP about the suspicious death of his wife naming Mewalal responsible for it. This gave a handle to the opposition to attack Nitish Kumar, compelling him to force the resignation of Mewalal.
Read: After defeat in Bihar elections,Shakti Singh Gohil and Madan Mohan Jha offer resignation
He had broken ties with RJD on corruption issue
JDU had formed an alliance with RJD in 2014 and formed a coalition government with RJD in 2015. Lalu Yadav's younger son Tejashwi Yadav had become deputy chief minister in the Nitish Kumar government. In 2017, the CBI questioned Tejashwi Yadav regarding the land scam of IRCTC. Nitish Kumar had made a statement too about this saying he had sought explanation from Tejashwi Yadav which he did not give. After this, Nitish Kumar had disassociated himself with the RJD and in July 2017 the coalition government of JDU and RJD fell.
Nitish Kumar took over as the chief minister of Bihar for the seventh time. Fighting corruption has become the biggest challenge for Nitish Kumar. The 2020 elections was the toughest for Nitish Kumar during all these years. Now, he needs to go to the people with a clean image. The resignation of Mewalal is a move in that direction. This is just the beginning, he has miles to go and the challenge is how he manages to maintain his incorruptible image.
