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Largest alliance partner, RJD eyes key portfolios, Bihar speaker’s chair
This time around, the RJD is more circumspect in dealing with Nitish Kumar and party leader Tejashwi Yadav’s political maturity also reflected in the way Kumar was made to reach out to the RJD.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is likely to get the lion’s share in Bihar cabinet as it joined hands with the Janata Dal United on Tuesday and staked claim to form the government, soon after chief minister Nitish Kumar severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, people familiar with the development said.
This time around, the RJD is more circumspect in dealing with Kumar and party leader Tejashwi Yadav’s political maturity also reflected in the way Kumar was made to reach out to the RJD.
With RJD’s 79 seats and 45 of JD(U), the numbers add up for the majority mark in the 243-member state’s legislative assembly. However, the grand alliance has plenty more to offer, with the Congress’s 19 seats and the three Left parties with cumulative 16 legislators.
Being the largest party in the alliance, the RJD is likely to call the shots in the new cabinet at the cost of allowing Kumar’s continuance in the CM’s chair. “It is natural the RJD would have the lion’s share in the Cabinet, but it will also stake claim to key portfolios, including finance and home department,” said a senior RJD leader, wishing not to be named. “Nitish Kumar has always kept home with himself. The speaker’s post is also likely to go to the RJD, just as it was with the BJP thus far.”
He added that the RJD will also seek key departments such as home and public works.
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Leaders of the two parties also said that the 2015 formula of distribution of ministerial berths in proportion to the number of seats each party has is likely to be replicated. The other alliance partners — Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and HAM — will also be accommodated in the cabinet accordingly, the leaders said.
“Nitish Kumar knows what the RJD rightfully deserves. Other alliance partners will also be accommodated,” said another RJD leader. “What has happened in Bihar will have its echo across the country and the experience and maturity of Nitish Kumar would be required for that.”
A senior JD(U) leader said Kumar will like a broad-based alliance and want their participation in the state’s cabinet, as he is wary of an assertive RJD that could again unnerve him after some time. “With more alliance partners in the cabinet, Nitish Kumar will have elbow room,” the leader said, requesting anonymity. “Expecting Nitish Kumar to play second fiddle for a long time is difficult to comprehend, but the RJD this time cannot be expected to be how it was in 2015.”
The alliance with the RJD-led Opposition this time around is quite different from the one Kumar had in 2013, when he severed the JD(U)’s 17-year ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party after the latter named Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA.
A lot of water has flown down the Ganga since and the RJD of 2022 has become more circumspect in dealing with Kumar. Party leader Tejashwi Yadav has also matured politically, which was reflected in the way Kumar was made to reach out to the firm RJD.
RJD has played its cards deftly this time, making Kumar take the initiative to reach out to them. The changed RJD approach was apparent when Kumar went to former chief minister Rabri Devi’s residence soon after tendering his resignation to Governor Phagu Chouhan and played to the pre-determined format. Senior RJD leaders said Tejashwi Yadav could even be coronated as the chief minister sometime later next year, as Nitish Kumar might shift to the national politics ahead of the 2024 general elections. However, the two leaders refused to comment on this possibility while speaking to reporters after meeting the governor to stake claim. “As of now, we are here to serve the people of Bihar,” Kumar said.
