Nitish Kumar is slated to take oath as Bihar chief minister for a record tenth term on Thursday following a landslide election victory for the NDA. The high-profile event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other top NDA leaders. Kumar submitted his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan earlier in the day — accompanied by Union minister Chirag Paswan, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Who will take oath on Thursday?
Lobbying continued for much of the day among NDA allies to finalise cabinet berths. The new Bihar Cabinet is expected to include 16 ministers from the BJP and 14 from JD(U), including the party chief. Sources told PTI that consensus has been reached among NDA partners to appoint BJP’s Prem Kumar as the Assembly Speaker. The Deputy Speaker post is likely to go to JD(U).
Sources said the new Cabinet will have five to six new faces from the main constituents of the NDA — the BJP and the JD(U). Umesh Singh Kushwaha, JD(U) state chief who won from Mahnar assembly seat, is likely to be inducted in the new Cabinet.
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While JD(U) is likely set to retain its current ministers, BJP may bring in a few new faces.
Smaller allies — LJP(RV) led by Union Minister Chirag Paswan, HAM-S led by Jitan Ram Manjhi, and RLM led by Upendra Kushwaha — will also get representation.
“The LJP (RV) is likely to get three berths in the new state cabinet while the HAM-S and RLM one berth each. A maximum of 16 ministers from the BJP and 14 ministers, along with CM Nitish Kumar from JD(U), will take oath on November 20”, sources said.
JD(U) leaders likely to be part of the new Cabinet include Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Shrowan Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Lesi Singh, Sheila Mandal, Madan Sahni, Ratnesh Sada, Mohammad Zama Khan, Jayant Raj, Umesh Singh Kushwaha, and Ashok Chowdhary.
Other probable inductees from JD(U) are Rahul Kumar Singh, Sudhanshu Shekhar, Kaladhar Prasad Mandal, and Panna Lal Singh Patel, sources said.
BJP sources said most ministers from the outgoing Cabinet will be retained, with the party considering three new faces.
Those likely to continue include Samrat Choudhary, Prem Kumar, Mangal Pandey, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Nitish Mishra, Renu Devi, Jibesh Kumar, Neeraj Kumar Singh, Janak Ram, Hari Sahni, Kedar Prasad Gupta, Surendra Mehta, Santosh Kumar Singh, Sunil Kumar, and Motil Lal Prasad.
Potential new faces from BJP include former IPS officer Anand Mishra (elected from Buxar), Rana Randhir, Gayatri Devi, and Vijay Kumar Khemka, sources said.
Bihar to get two Deputy Chief Ministers?
Bihar is likely to get two Deputy Chief Ministers from allied parties under the seat-sharing formula — likely from the BJP and LJP (RV). Much has been said about the possibility of Paswan assuming the role following the strong performance put up by his party.
“I have always believed that my strike rate has been close to 100 per cent, and I expect the same this time. I am confident my party will win all 29 seats it is contesting and if this happens, we would expect a Deputy Chief Minister post. I believe there should be respect in an alliance. If your partners are performing well they should be rewarded,” Paswan had told India Today well before the votes were counted.
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The Union Minister had however insisted that he would not personally assume the role after being entrusted with responsibilities at the Centre. Paswan had said that “some leader from the LJP (RV)” would definitely assume the post. |
