In an announcement, the Chief Minister’s Workplace (CMO) mentioned Nitish had accepted Singh’s resignation and intimated Governor Phagu Chauhan. Tourism Minister Kumar Sarvajeet has been appointed the state’s new agriculture minister whereas the duties of the tourism division might be dealt with by Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.
Earlier within the day, sources within the RJD mentioned Singh was understood to have submitted his resignation to Tejashwi, who then met Nitish to debate the matter.
JD(U) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha mentioned, “The event will not be going to have an effect on the soundness of the federal government. Sudhakar Singh had mentioned up to now that he would resign when instructed to take action by Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi. Possibly he received the orders.”
Sudhakar Singh’s father is the RJD’s state chief Jagadanand Singh, who is understood for his proximity to get together president Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi. Jagadanand Singh mentioned earlier within the day that his son had lent his voice to the considerations of the farming group. “However generally, this isn’t sufficient. Sacrifices must be made. Due to this fact, the agriculture minister has despatched his resignation letter to the federal government.” He added that the choice was made “as a result of we didn’t need the rift to widen (hum nahin chahte hain ki ye ladaai aage badhe)”.
In an interview to The Indian Categorical in August, Sudhakar Singh warned of drought in Bihar. “With 40 per cent poor rains and paddy sowing being hit, Bihar is observing maybe the worst-ever drought within the final 5 a long time,” he mentioned, earlier than occurring to say, “It’s unhappy that regardless of three agricultural roadmaps, issues haven’t improved within the state over time. Now we have recognized that the principle downside begins from the seed degree.”
Final month, Singh flagged “corruption” in his division and claimed that the federal government was not listening to him. Talking of alleged corruption within the decrease paperwork, Singh mentioned, “There’s not anybody in my division who doesn’t interact in corrupt practices… Aur hum choron ke sardar hain (And we’re the top of thieves).”
In a veiled assault on the CM, the minister mentioned, “I’ve been asking the federal government to interact a number of businesses to purchase paddy, however there isn’t a response. I’m not speaking about bureaucrats however about large politicians. Once I talked about establishing mandis to purchase grains from farmers, it was not thought-about both… Aese laga jaise samnewale ko bukhar ho gaya ho (It appeared the particular person in entrance of me had caught a fever).”
In a subsequent interview to The Indian Categorical, the first-time MLA from Ramgarh mentioned, “What I mentioned shouldn’t embarrass anybody as a result of I’ve flagged my critical considerations about deep-rooted corruption and general poor implementation of our schemes.” Although there have been stories of Nitish being upset in regards to the feedback, Singh denied it on the time, saying, “Neither CM Nitish Kumar nor anyone else instructed me something within the Cupboard assembly or elsewhere … My get together is aware of about my stand and my calls for to make issues higher in agriculture division. Now we have hardly achieved something in final 17 years. As a minister, I’ve to establish issues and attempt to rectify them.”
The BJP was fast to touch upon the resignation. “Sudhakar Singh had been elevating his voice towards afsarshahi (bureaucratic high-handedness),” mentioned state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal. “That is one thing that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar can’t tolerate. Therefore he has been made to resign.”
The BJP had raised a hue and cry when Singh was inducted into the Cupboard, pointing to a case of cost default of a rice mill he owns. Singh began his political profession with the BJP and contested from Ramgarh on a celebration ticket in 2010. He misplaced his deposit in that election.
Final month, RJD chief Kartik Kumar, also referred to as Kartikeya Singh, resigned from the federal government after his portfolio was modified from Legislation to Sugarcane Business. The federal government’s transfer got here after the MLC was scheduled to look earlier than an area courtroom in reference to a pending arrest warrant towards him in a kidnapping case from 2014.
(With PTI inputs)