Janata Dal United (JDU) national general secretary and former Union minister Ali Ashraf Fatmi quit the party on Tuesday “to protect ethical values”, giving a jolt to chief minister Nitish Kumar.

He is expected to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the next couple of days and contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Madhubani or Darbhanga constituency.

The four-term former MP from Darbhanga was the Union minister for education in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004 to 2009. He had lost the seat to former cricketer and the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirti Azad in the 2009 and 2014 general elections.

In a short letter addressed to JDU national president Nitish Kumar, Fatmi wrote that he was “resigning from all positions in the party, including its primary membership to protect the ethical values”.

“I have resigned from the JDU, including the post of the national general secretary of the party. There is no personal reason behind this. I have taken this decision because the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar was running nicely and Nitish’s image was also getting better. Our suggestions should have been taken before bringing it down,” Fatmi told reporters.

“I was hurt due to this decision because Nitish, in the national interest, was also committed to save the Constitution and the country’s future, with a win for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). This forced me to quit the JDU and seek any other option,” Fatmi added.

Asserting that the performance of Nitish’s deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in the (Mahagathbandhan) government, especially with regard to jobs and employment was exemplary, Fatmi pointed out it had sent a good message across the society, and the people had appreciated it.