Patna, November 16:
As Nitish Kumar takes oath for a fourth straight term as Bihar Chief Minister, 14 other ministers will be sworn in along with him this afternoon. His new deputies – BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi – will be among those who will take oath today at the event that will be attended by Home Minister Amit Shah. The NDA won the state election last week with a wafer-thin majority and got 125 of Bihar’s 243 assembly seats, three above the halfway mark.
Nitish Kumar, who had faced anti-incumbency after three terms, was formally named as the leader of the ruling alliance at a meeting of the MLAs on Sunday. The meeting was attended by senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the party’s state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis, union minister Nityanand Rai and state party chief Sanjay Jaiswal, among others.
The BJP’s performance in the state elections has downgraded Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal United to a second place in the alliance. While the JDU slipped from the 71 seats it won in 2015 to 43, the BJP won an unprecedented 74 seats.
Vijendra Yadav, Vijay Choudhary, Ashok Choudhary, Mewalal Choudhary, and Sheela Mandal from Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United and BJP leaders Mangal Pandey and Rampreet Paswan are among the 14 ministers who will be inducted in Nitish Kumar’s new cabinet today. Santosh Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha or the HAM, and Mukesh Mallah of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) will also be sworn in.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had been Deputy Chief Minister to Nitish Kumar for much of his 15-year rule, has been replaced. He is likely to be sent to the centre as a Union Minister.
On Sunday, Sushil Modi said Mr Prasad was unanimously elected as the leader of BJP legislature party in Bihar. “The BJP and the Sangh Parivar gave me so much in the political life of 40 years. I will discharge the responsibility that will be given to me. No one can take away the post of the party worker,” he wrote on Twitter. He also congratulated Bettiah MLA Renu Devi on being elected as deputy leader of BJP legislature party.
“After the ceremony, the cabinet will decide when the House will convene,” Nitish Kumar told reporters yesterday. “Bihar people have given this opportunity so there is more development. there should be no inadequacy,” Mr Kumar added.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who led the Grand Alliance of the opposition during a bitter election campaign, had attacked Nitish Kumar over several issues such as handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and unemployment. The issues raised by the opposition are likely to precedence for the newly elected state government.
The NDA’s campaign hinged largely on speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the state at least four times during the month-long poll campaign and was seen sharing stage with Nitish Kumar.
Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janata Party, who fought the election separately from the NDA this time, was viewed by many as a ‘vote-cutter’ for Nitish Kumar’s party. While Mr Paswan, after winning just one seat, said he wanted to strengthen the BJP’s position in the state, his criticism of the JDU chief apparently bared the rift between the ruling coalition partners.
With Mr Kumar dependent on BJP largesse for his fourth straight term, there are questions on whether he would retain his absolute power over the government. Many feel that a chunk of his decisions might be subject to BJP approval.
(Courtesy NDTV)
