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Nitish to take oath again as Bihar CM, now Tejashwi will be his deputy | Top points
Nitish Kumar, who broke ties BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and put in his papers as the coalition's chief minister, will now be heading a Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government of seven parties, supported by an Independent.
Nitish Kumar will be sworn-in as the chief minister of Bihar for the eight time on Wednesday with Tejashwi Yadav, who was till today the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, as his deputy. A simple ceremony is likely to be held at 2pm at the Raj Bhavan in capital P.
Kumar, who broke ties BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday and put in his papers as the coalition's chief minister, will now be heading a Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government of seven parties, supported by an Independent.
Here are some of the top developments from the state where alliances were severed and renewed in a matter of few hours:
– Kumar, 71, held a meeting with the top JDU leadership on Tuesday morning, following which he sought time from governor Phagu Chauhan.
– He then submitted his resignation as the chief minister of the NDA government and later told reporters that the decision to quit the alliance was taken the JDU leaders at the meeting.
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– Kumar then paid a visit to the residence of Rabri Devi, former Bihar chief minister and wife of RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav, where he spoke to Tejashwi. He reportedly asked the RJD leader to forget all that happened in 2017 and begin a new chapter.
– Later, Kumar, Tejashwi and Lalu's other son Tej Pratap were seen walking together to the Raj Bhavan.
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– At the governor's house, Kumar staked claim to form a new government. Later, they jointly addressed the press.
– According to reports, more ministers will be inducted into the cabinet at a later stage. The new cabinet is likely to have representatives from the Congress too, besides the RJD and JD(U).
– In terms of numbers, RJD has the largest share of seats in the Assembly, followed by BJP and JDU.
– While there was simmering tension between the JD(U) and BJP over a host of issues, including caste census, population control and the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, the latest developments came two days after Kumar skipped a key NITI Aayog event, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Delhi.
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– Soon after, a senior JDU leader said there would be no representation of the JD(U) in the Union Cabinet. This came as RCP Singh, who was once considered close to Kumar, resigned from the party after graft allegations were levelled against him. Singh was the only JDU face in the Union Cabinet before he resigned from the Rajya Sabha as Kumar denied him another term in the Upper House of Parliament.
