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Portfolio race picks up in Bihar ahead of Nitish Kumar oath
Bihar, which has 243 assembly seats, can have up to 36 ministers, including the chief minister
Nitish Kumar on Tuesday took stock of preparations for the oath-taking ceremony scheduled at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan at 11am on Thursday even as allies Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party negotiated for key portfolios and the position of speaker ahead of their respective legislature party meetings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, several central ministers and chief ministers of National Democratic Alliance-ruled states are expected to attend the ceremony which will herald the fifth consecutive term for Kumar.
“Amit Shah will arrive in Patna on Wednesday evening. The confirmation about chief ministers would also come on Wednesday,” said a BJP functionary aware of the details.
The NDA stormed to power in Bihar in the recently concluded assembly polls, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with the BJP bagging 89, the JD(U) 85, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 19, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) five and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha four.
Ahead of the oath ceremony, both the JD(U) and BJP have maintained silence on the issue of cabinet berths. A marathon meeting chaired by Shah in Delhi lasted for three hours on Tuesday and was attended by senior leaders of both parties, including BJP chief JP Nadda, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, JD(U)’s working president Sanjay Jha and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lallan) Singh.
“The outcome of the meeting will be announced after a second round of meeting in Patna on Tuesday evening…there are however no differences over any issue, it is natural for partners to discuss allocation of portfolios and selection of candidates for the cabinet,” said a party functionary.
Both parties will have their legislature party meetings – which could hold out hints on who could be candidates for the deputy chief minister slot – on Wednesday. The outgoing government had two deputy CMs – Samrat Choudhury and Vijay Kumar Sinha, the former a backward classes leader and the latter a Bhumihar – and both won the elections.
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.
BJP functionaries said the issue of portfolio distribution was discussed at the meeting chaired by Shah on Tuesday. He is set to travel to Patna on Wednesday and hold another meeting, saida party office bearer.
The BJP and the JD(U) are both eyeing the portfolio of home, which was with the JD(U) in the last term, said people aware of the matter. The education ministry – which was with the JD(U) – is also a point of contention, the people said.
The post of Speaker is coveted by both sides, said an alliance leader. “Broader issues have already been settled…” the functionary quoted above said. The frontrunners for the position are the BJP’s Prem Kumar and JD(U)’s Vijay Chowdhary.
In the outgoing assembly, BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav served as Speaker, while JD(U)’s Narendra Narayan Yadav held the position of Deputy Speaker.
To a question on the possibility of only one deputy CM, the functionary said the issue will be discussed at the meeting in Patna, “taking into account issues of representation (both gender and caste)...”
“Everything will be known at the appropriate time. Consultations are going on and preparations are in full swing for the swearing in,” said senior JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary .
A senior NDA leader said that the way things were unfolding, there was a hint of some surprise elements in the Nitish cabinet. “The big mandate means a lot of work and NDA may like to have a new look team blending youth with experience without affecting the social equation,” he added.
Ahead of its legislature party meeting, the BJP appointed Uttar Pradesh deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya as the central observer with Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and senior party leader Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti picked as central co-observers.
The JD(U) wants that if the BJP takes the Speaker’s post, then only one deputy CM be appointed, and is against two deputy CMs in Bihar, said an NDA leader.
Kumar is likely to be first elected as leader of the JD(U) legislature party at 11 am on Wednesday and after that, the leader of the NDA at 3.30 pm, before tendering his resignation to governor Arif Mohammed Khan as head of the outgoing government, an alliance leadersaid. He will also submit a letter of support from all alliance partners of the NDA to the governor for the formation of the new government.
The developments came a day after Kumar met Khan on Monday to apprise him about the cabinet decision recommending dissolution of the current legislative assembly with effect from November 19. On Wednesday, Kumar is set to submit his resignation to the governor as head of the outgoing government.
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.
The parties are considering allocating roughly one ministerial post for every six MLAs to ensure balanced representation within the alliance. 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), said a senior NDA leader.
