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Asked if he will be chief minister, Nitish Kumar says ‘NDA to decide’
The JD(U) and BJP leaders were quick to clarify that formal selection of NDA leader has to be done by all the four allies, which is a mere formality.
Nitish Kumar, who the BJP maintains will be the NDA’s chief ministerial face, on Thursday said dates for the swearing-in of the new government have not been decided yet. Asked about who will be the chief minister, he said the decision will be taken by the NDA alliance.
“It is not decided yet when the oath ceremony will take place, whether after Diwali or Chhath. Members of all four parties will meet tomorrow followed by an official meeting of all allies then the process of government formation will start,” said Kumar while interacting with mediapersons after holding a meeting with party office-bearers and new MLAs at the party office.
“I have made no claim, the decision will be taken by NDA. I don’t have any personal interest or aspirations. My only interest is service to people,” said Kumar when asked if he will be the CM.
The JD(U) and BJP leaders were quick to clarify that formal selection of NDA leader has to be done by all the four allies, which is a mere formality.
Kumar’s JD(U) had won 43 seats while the BJP won 74. Other partners in the NDA, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM-S and Mukhesh Sahani’s VIP won four seats each.
The chief minister said that there is a procedure to government formation. “The existing house is till November 29 and before swearing-in of the new government the House has to be dissolved and a leader of the ruling alliance has to be elected. These are the procedures which need to be followed,” said chief minister Kumar.
A senior Raj Bhavan official said that they have not received any communication about when the oath ceremony has been planned. On Thursday, the chief electoral officer (CEO) handed over the list of elected candidates to the governor.
Earlier, speculation was rife in the political circles that Nitish Kumar, along with few ministers, will take oath on Monday.
A JD(U) leader said that dates for the oath ceremony are to be decided by the BJP, clearly indicating that JD(U) has left the entire exercise of cabinet formation on the saffron party, which won more seats than the JD(U).
A senior BJP functionary said that dates for the oath ceremony would be held depending upon the availability of senior BJP leaders including the Prime Minister.
Expressing satisfaction over the mandate, Kumar said, “Janta malik hai. People have given the mandate to NDA and it will form government.”
Kumar, 69, denied that there was any pressure from any quarter on him.
“There will be no problem in running the government. I have always been uncompromising on the three Cs: crime, corruption and communalism. There is going to be no change. Not a single riot has taken place since I took over,” he said.
He, however, said that his party was analysing what went wrong on seats lost and how votes got divided. “Some people succeeded in creating confusion but I do not have any doubts on any allies. It cost JD(U) more seats than the BJP due to this confusion,” said Kumar.
On the question of Chirag Paswan’s LJP being allowed back into the NDA fold, Kumar threw the ball in the BJP court.
“It’s for the BJP to decide whether or not the LJP should be retained in NDA,” he said.
On Wednesday night, the JD(U) core committee met at chief minister’s official residence at 1, Aney Marg and discussed the post-poll scenario and issues related to government formation.
According to party sources, with just 43 seats in its kitty, the party at best can expect to get 14 ministerial berths against 20 for the BJP. The HAM-S and VIP can also expect to get one each, said party insiders.
The maximum number of ministers in the cabinet permissible in the government is 36 as the size of council of ministers could be only 15% of the total number of seats in the assembly, which stands at 243.
“The number of ministers is fixed. Although these will be decided later,” said Kumar.
According to a NDA leader, as per the formula, for every seven seats, a party gets two berths in ministry.
Currently, there are 15 ministers from the JD (U) and 13 from the BJP in the present Nitish Kumar-led NDA government with the cabinet size getting reduced in the last few months from 33. Previously, out of 33 ministers, 19 belonged to the JD(U) and 14 from the BJP.
