With the rift  between the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United) widening beyond control, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar submitted his resignation from the post to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Wednesday.

This comes right after former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s announcement that Deputy Chief Minister and his son Tejashwi Yadav would not step down. “Tejashwi Yadav will not resign, Nitish Kumar didn’t ask for his resignation,” Yadav had said defiantly in a press briefing.

Kumar announced his decision during a meeting with JD(U) MLAs on Wednesday. Reports say his decision to quit was endorsed by those in attendance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have congratulated Kumar on his decision. The JD (U) and the BJP were in alliance in the state for 17 years till 2014.

Talking about his resignation, Kumar said, he led the government as long as he could. Kumar told the media that he had asked Tejashwi to come clean, but there had been no clarification so far.

Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri and son Tejashwi are being probed in a 2006 corruption case, where the Yadav clan is said to have received a two-acre land in return for railway hotel tenders.

The two parties, and the Congress, are constituents of the Mahagathbandan which stormed to power in Bihar in November 2015.

In the Bihar Assembly, RJD has 80 seats, JD(U) has 71, BJP has 53 and Congress holds 27.