Know how many times Nitish Kumar resigned from govt in past

Patna: Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Wednesday resigned as Bihar Chief Minister after a standoff with ally RJD Deputy Chief Minister Tajashwi Yadav.

After meeting with Janata Dal (United) MLAs, Nitish went to Raj Bhawan where he tendered his resignation to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

His resignation came hours after Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav affirmed that his scam-tainted son and minister Tejashwi will not resign from his post. 

This is not the first time when Nitish resigned from his post before completing his term. 

Earlier, in May 2014, Nitish stepped down as the Bihar Chief Minister, a day after his party fared poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning just 2 seats against 20 seats in the previous election. 

Nitish resigned, taking the moral responsibility of his party's poor performance in the election and party leader Jitan Ram Manjhi took over. However, nine months later in February 2015, he again assumed Office of the Chief Minister, on the backdrop of Bihar Legislative Assembly election. 

After tasting record-breaking victory in Bihar assembly polls, Nitish was once again sworn-in as the state Chief Minister for the record fifth time and Lalu's youngest son Tejashwi was accorded the post of Deputy Minister of the state. 

In June 2013, Nitish-led JD(U) ended its 17-year-old alliance with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on account of the fact that NDA was set to declare the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, something which didn't go well with the JD(U) chief. 

In 1999, Nitish, who briefly served as the Union Minister for Railways and Minister for Surface Transport in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, resigned as the Railway Minister following the Gaisal train disaster. 

However, during his stint as the Railway Minister, Nitish brought in widespread reforms such as internet ticket booking facility in 2002, opening a record number of railway ticket booking counters and introducing the 'Tatkal scheme' for instant booking.

In the same year, Nitish rejoined and served as the Union Cabinet as Minister for Agriculture. Nitish once again served as the Union Railway Minister from 2001 to May 2004. 

Nonetheless, with Nitish's decision to move out of the grand alliance, Bihar has plunged into a major political crisis. 

It remains to be seen if the JD(U) and BJP come back together again as political allies.