PATNA: A day after tendering resignation, Bihar Social Welfare Minister Parveen Amanullah met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today but refused to take back her resignation.
“I told CM that I am firm on my decision and will not take back resignation,” Amanullah told reporters emerging from her meeting with CM at his One Anne Marg residence.
Asked if CM urged her to reconsider her decision, she said, “he said he was sad and asked me to rethink, but I told him that I am firm on my decision.”
Asked if CM had called her, she said in fact she had sought time from him to say goodbye. Amanullah had a half-an-hour meeting with CM after Kumar returned from Bodh Gaya in the forenoon.
To persistent questions about reasons for her quitting, Parveen Amanullah was evasive and merely said there was need to improve the system.
Parveen Amanullah, a prominent Muslim leader, however said, she has no “ranjis” (acrimony) against the CM or anybody else.
There is strong speculation of her joining Aam Admi Party (AAP) but was non-committal saying, “I am looking for options…I have not taken any decision so far.”
Sources close to her said she had met AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently.
Parveen Amanullah was a prominent RTI worker in Bihar before contesting election and becoming minister in 2010.
Replying to questions regarding her joining AAP or some other party, she said “give me some time.”
She said, “I put my views about system before the CM…it was not that I had gone to hammer solution to some problem.”
Amanullah, who had yesterday said that she was finding difficulty working in the system, today again emphasized the need for changing the system.
“There cannot be status quo…the system needs to improve,” she said.
There has been talk in political circles about her unhappiness over not being considered for Rajya Sabha and JD (U) nominating another Muslim woman Kahkasha Parveen.
Resignation of Parveen Amanullah, who is wife of senior bureaucrat Afzal Amanullah, currently with the Central government, has jolted the Nitish Kumar government.
She is daughter of former diplomat Syed Shahabuddin, a prominent leader of ‘Babri Masjid Action committee’.
Shahabuddin also represented Kisanganj in Parliament once.
Besides, quitting Nitish cabinet, she has also decided to resign as MLA and give up membership of JD (U).
Parveen won the 2010 Assembly elections from Sahebpur Kalam constituency in Begusarai district.
The resignation of Parveen has come at a time when Kumar is facing threats to his popularity amid efforts by RJD President Lalu Prasad to stage a comeback. It has also raised questions about his support among minority Muslims.
The resignation of Parveen as an MLA would give anxious moments to the Nitish Kumar government which is surviving with the support of four MLAs of Congress, as many Independents and one CPI.
The JD (U) will now be left with 117 MLAs including Speaker Udai Narain Chaudhary in the 238-member house.–PTI
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