New Delhi, July 16
Railway Minister and Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar is said to have agreed to withdraw his resignation after meetings with party President George Fernandes and party MPs.

Mr Nitish Kumar’s decision was announced late this evening by Mr Prabhunath Singh, MP from Maharajgung. Mr Nitish Kumar’s loyalists who had been camping at his residence for the past two days have hailed the decision.

Mr Nitish Kumar, however, did not step out of his residence to announce that he had reversed his decision. Yesterday, he had stated that his decision to resign was “irreversible, final, carefully considered and guided by conscience.”

Mr Nitish Kumar’s opponents in the party had, however, dismissed his obdurate stand as a mere drama and accused the Railway Minister of “always acting contrary to his statements.

Before boarding a train for Bihar late this afternoon, Mr Fernandes told mediapersons that the crisis in the Samata Party would be resolved by Thursday. Mr Fernandes spent nearly two hours with the Railway Minister this morning and persuaded him to take back his resignation which had been rejected by the Prime Minister.

Mr Prabhunath Singh was accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP and president of the Bihar unit of the Samata Party, Mr Basisht Narain Singh and Mr Arun Kumar, MP from Jehanabad, to Mr Nitish Kumar’s 22, Akbar Road residence for tea.

Sources in the Samata Party said Mr Nitish Kumar had also reiterated that he was receptive to the idea of taking back expelled MPs if they were repentant about their conduct. The party has expelled two MPs, Mr Raghunath Jha (Gopalganj) and Mr Brahmanand Mandal (Munger).