Amid Bihar cabinet expansion today, BJP to hold key meeting : Top 10
Nitish Kumar's sudden exit from the ruling coalition last week was a rude shock to the BJP; this has triggered a war of words.
Days after Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar’s chief minister for the eighth time, along with a new deputy - the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav - the cabinet expansion for the new government will take place on Tuesday. Kumar - in a surprise move last week - walked out of an alliance with the BJP, which was ruling with Kumar after the coalition was voted to power in 2020.
Here are ten points on the Bihar cabinet expansion:
1. The Nitish-Tejashwi cabinet is likely to be expanded with a focus on backward castes, HT reported on Monday. The move is likely to be carried out in line with the expectations of the voters' base.
2. On a day the Bihar cabinet is expanded, the BJP is set to hold a strategy meeting in Delhi. The meeting with the core committee would be chaired by BJP chief JP Nadda.
3. The Bihar cabinet expansion comes just days after Maharashtra saw an expansion of the cabinet where Eknath Shinde’s revolt against Uddhav Thackeray and his coalition with the BJP led to the fall of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government.
4. The total strength of the state assembly is 243 and the cabinet can accommodate a maximum of 36 ministers.
5. Tuesday is likely to witness the first phase of cabinet expansion with swearing in of less than 30 ministers.
6. With Nitish Kumar’s return to the Grand Alliance, a war of words has started between the BJP and JD(U). The BJP is now predicting decline of the JD(U).
7. However, JD(U) leader Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday hit out at the BJP’s Sushil Modi, Nitish former deputy, saying that the BJP was once considered “an untouchable” party but it became mainstream due to the help of Nitish Kumar.
8. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar on Monday said his government aims to provide 20 lakh jobs in Bihar.
9. His return to the Grand Alliance also holds significance ahead of the 2024 national polls. It is being viewed as a shot in the arm for the opposition.
10. Last week, Kumar said he wanted opposition parties to work together. However, he clarified that he had no ambitions to be in the race to become the next prime minister.
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