Bihar Cong chief rebuts Tejashwi on Cabinet expansion, demands a panel for alliance affairs

Chief minister Nitish CM Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress are the three major constituents of the ruling alliance in Bihar.

Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh Tuesday demanded a co-ordination committee for “smooth functioning” of the ruling alliance, the mahagathbandhan, in the state and reiterated that a cabinet expansion in the state was imminent, days after it was emphatically ruled out by deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav meets Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)

Talking to reporters in Bhabhua town on Tuesday, Singh said, “Without a co-ordination committee, the mahagathbandhan can’t achieve the objective for which it was formed, which is to ensure the defeat of BJP in 2024 parliamentary polls.”

Chief minister Nitish CM Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress are the three major constituents of the ruling alliance in Bihar.

Left parties, which have been supporting the government from outside, have also been demanding a co-ordination committee for the ruling alliance.

Congress, which has 19 MLAs in the 243-member state assembly, currently has two ministers in the “Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance)” government, which was formed after CM Kumar dumped the BJP in August last year and formed a new government in alliance with RJD, Congress and other parties.

Bihar cabinet can have a maximum of 36 berths, five of which are still lying vacant.