Nitish Kumar meets Governor after cabinet nod to dissolve assembly

The NDA bagged more than 200 seats in the 243-member House, with the BJP winning the maximum number of 89 seats, followed by the JD(U)’s tally of 85

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday to apprise him about the cabinet decision recommending dissolution of the current legislative assembly.

A resolution to this effect was unanimously passed in the meeting chaired by Nitish Kumar. (PTI photo)

“Chief minister Nitish Kumar met the governor after cabinet authorised him to recommend dissolution of assembly. A resolution to this effect was unanimously passed in the meeting chaired by Kumar, which lasted for 10 minutes,” said Janata Dal United (JDU) minister in outgoing cabinet Vijay Kumar Chowdhary.

“The CM met Governor Arif Mohammad Khan soon after the meeting to apprise him about the decision of the cabinet. On November 19, Kumar will submit his resignation to the Governor as head of the outgoing government,” said the JD (U) leader.

Choudhary said there were only three proposals, one of which was regarding dissolution of the Assembly, second to thank all the officials and employees for helping in successful and peaceful conduct of elections and the third to congratulate the CM, under whose leadership NDA got such a big mandate to reach its pinnacle.

Preparations are underway for the swearing-in ceremony on November 20 at the Gandhi Maidan.

“It will be a big event matching the big victory in the election to take on the big challenge of next generation development the people have given to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government under Nitish Kumar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior central BJP leaders will also attend the function,” JD-U working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said.

According to senior NDA leaders aware of the developments, the broad structure of the new government has been decided according to the number of legislators each constituent has won.

According to coalition leaders, the parties are considering allocating roughly one ministerial post for every six MLAs to ensure balanced representation within the alliance, which consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM), and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) or HAM (S).

“It is the prerogative of the chief minister who he wants in his cabinet. In a coalition, all parties have expressed their desire to be part of the cabinet. The bigger parties will get more berths. NDA has a long history of running coalition and that is not an issue. I cannot even say at this stage how many berths will be filled,” said senior JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary.

One slot each will likely go to the RLM and HAM(S), three to the LJP(RV), and the remaining 30–31 will be divided between the BJP and the JD(U). However, there may be some adjustments, and changes to the two deputy chief minister posts are also possible,” a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.

The maximum number of cabinet berths is constitutionally capped at 15% of an assembly’s strength.

Bihar, which has 243 assembly seats, can have up to 36 ministers, including the chief minister. The NDA swept to power in the recently held Bihar polls by winning 202 seats, with the BJP bagging 89 seats, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM(S) 5 and RLM 4.

The current Bihar assembly’s term ends on November 22, and the 18th assembly will be constituted on or before that date.

Bihar’s chief electoral officer (CEO), Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, on Sunday handed over the list of 243 newly elected members of the state assembly to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan at Raj Bhavan, setting the process for the new assembly in motion.

“On Monday and Tuesday the respective parties will hold their legislative party meetings and later the joint NDA meeting will be held to complete the formality of electing its leader. The entire process will be completed ahead of schedule by November 21,” said a senior BJP leader.