The leader of India's eastern Bihar state resigned from his post on Wednesday (26) in a surprise move widely expected to strengthen prime minister Narendra Modi's grip on power.
Nitish Kumar, the popular chief minister of one of India's most populous and impoverished states, told journalists that it had become "impossible" for him to run the government in an alliance with a regional party led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, a controversial populist.
"My resignation has been accepted. The governor has asked me to continue till other arrangements are made," Kumar said.
Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the main opposition in the state and observers predict that it could now form the next Bihar government in an alliance with Kumar's party.
Yadav -- a former Bihar chief minister -- was earlier banished from India's lower house in 2013 after he was convicted of defrauding a scheme to help farmers.
Pope Francis greets Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 summit near Bari, Italy, in June last year, as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and then British prime minister Rishi Sunak look on
