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Lobbying was still going on among National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies to finalize cabinet berths ahead of the formation of the new government and the swearing-in of Nitish Kumar as chief minister on Thursday.
Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar, who resigned from the post of chief of the outgoing NDA government on Wednesday, will take oath as Chief Minister for a record 10th time today at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
Several top NDA leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and chief ministers of various states are expected to attend the event.
Union Home Minister Shah reached Patna on Wednesday night, a day before the swearing-in.
A consensus has been reached among the NDA allies regarding the post of Assembly Speaker, BJP’s Prem Kumar is likely to be appointed to this post and the responsibility of the post of Deputy Speaker will be given to JDU.
Sources told news agency PTI that the new cabinet will have five to six new faces from the NDA’s main constituents – BJP and JDU.
JDU state chief Umesh Singh Kushwaha, who won from Mehnar assembly seat, is likely to be included in the new cabinet.
While JD(U) is set to retain its existing ministers, BJP may bring in some new faces. Smaller allies – LJP (RV) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, HAM-S led by Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLM led by Upendra Kushwaha – will also get representation.
“LJP (RV) is likely to get three seats in the new state cabinet, while HAM-S and RLM will get one seat each. A maximum of 16 ministers from BJP and 14 ministers from JD(U) along with CM Nitish Kumar will be sworn in on November 20,” sources told the news agency.
The JD(U) leaders likely to be part of the new Cabinet include Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Shrowan Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Lesi Singh, Sheila Mandal, Madan Sahni, Ratnesh Sada, Mohammad Zama Khan, Jayant Raj, Umesh Singh Kushwaha, and Ashok Chowdhary.
Others likely to join from JD(U) are Rahul Kumar Singh, Sudhanshu Shekhar, Kaladhar Prasad Mandal and Panna Lal Singh Patel, sources said.
BJP sources said while most of the ministers in the outgoing cabinet will be retained, the party is considering three new faces.
Those likely to continue include Samrat Choudhary, Prem Kumar, Mangal Pandey, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Nitish Mishra, Renu Devi, Jibesh Kumar, Neeraj Kumar Singh, Janak Ram, Hari Sahni, Kedar Prasad Gupta, Surendra Mehta, Santosh Kumar Singh, Sunil Kumar, and Motil Lal Prasad.
According to sources, the possible new faces of BJP include former IPS officer Anand Mishra (elected from Buxar), Rana Randhir, Gayatri Devi and Vijay Kumar Khemka.
key takeaways
- Demonstrating his political flexibility, Nitish Kumar is ready to take oath as Chief Minister for the 10th time.
- The new cabinet will probably have a mix of retained ministers and some new faces from NDA allies.
- Discussions are already going on among NDA allies on the appointment of key posts like Assembly Speaker.
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