NDA MPs will meet on Sunday and officially elect Nitish Kumar as their leader.
Patna:
Bridges were cleared today for the formation of a new government in Bihar with Nitish Kumar, who is expected to return as chief minister, handing over to Governor Phagu Chauhan the resignation of his ministry and the recommendation to dissolve the assembly state, officials said.
The governor accepted the resignation and asked Mr. Kumar to continue as acting chief minister until the new NDA government was sworn in.
Previously, the leaders of the four constituents of the NDA – JD (U), BJP, HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party – had met informally at 1, Anney Marg, the official residence of the Chief Minister, where it was decided that all newly elected NDA MPs will meet on Sunday and officially elect Mr. Kumar as their leader.
“The meeting will start at 12:30 pm on Sunday November 15 where all other decisions will be made,” Kumar said.
He also said the current state cabinet would hold its final meeting on the evening a decision on dissolving the assembly, whose term expires on November 29, will be made.
“These formalities must be completed before the formation of a new government. Cabinet recommendations will be passed on to the governor whose nod will be followed by further steps leading to the formation of a new government,” Kumar added. .
During the cabinet meeting, which lasted barely 10 minutes, the chief minister thanked all his cabinet colleagues for their cooperation, said Rana Randhir, a BJP leader who held the cooperative portfolio in the dissolved cabinet and returned as MP from Madhuban.
Although the BJP emerges as the largest party in the ruling alliance with 74 seats, 31 more than the JD (U), the top leadership of the Saffron party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has flatly endorsed Kumar as next chief minister.
He was declared the ruling coalition’s chief ministerial candidate long before the start of the electoral process.
Knowledgeable sources also said that issues discussed at the informal NDA leadership meeting included the representation of each constituent in the new cabinet and the election of the assembly speaker.
Speculation is rife that the BJP could push for an EBC or Dalit as deputy CM, although it is not clear whether the insistence was to replace veteran leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who holds the post for most since 2005, or to replicate the experience in adjoining Uttar Pradesh where two leaders share the post.
One of the names that go around the post of Deputy CM is that of Kameshwar Chaupal, a Dalit who was chosen for laying the foundation stone for Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya in the 1990s.
Supporters of Mr. Chaupal, a member of the legislative council, gave credit to the speculations as they were noticed chanting slogans to this effect in the streets of the city.
Meanwhile, the NDA, which has three MPs more than the magic number 122, was shot in the arm when Chakai’s independent lawmaker Sumit Singh met with the chief minister and extended his support. Mr. Singh is the son of Narendra Singh, former minister of state and Rajput leader of Jamui district.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
