“Things were not working well, as a result of which I had to resign. I sought advice and opinion of everyone in the party before taking the decision to resign,” Nitish said.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered oath to Nitish, and eight ministers. Two of the ministers — Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha from BJP — were later designated deputy CMs. BJP and JD(U) have three ministers each, with the sixth going to Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) which was part of the BJP-led opposition, and one to an Independent MLA aligned with JD(U). The CM said the cabinet would be expanded soon.
Both Nitish and BJP have taken care to give proper caste representation, setting the stage for the coming Lok Sabha elections. However, with the thin strength of the NDA in the 243-member assembly, at 128 MLAs, and a strong opposition with 79 RJD MLAs, 19 of Congress, 12 of CPI (ML), two each of CPI and CPM, the coalition is set to face rough weather.
It also spells a tough job for whoever replaces speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, a nominee of RJD, who seems set to lose his job by next week.
Given the acrimony that followed Nitish’s departure from NDA in 2022, with BJP accusing him of betraying the mandate of the 2020 polls they won together, and ruling out renewal of ties, the regime change was rather smooth. BJP worked on its allies like LJP’s Chirag Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha, both bitter critics of Nitish, to win their acquiescence in the new arrangement, its enterprise pointing to both its objective to improve higher returns from Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections as well as the recognition of the need to supplement its assets such as the PM’s popularity and Hindutva with additions to its social base in the caste-riven state.
An alliance with Nitish can potentially upset the poll prospects of the INDIA bloc in Bihar and will reduce the possibility of the elections being turned into an upper caste versus OBC battle. Opposition circles seem to concede that the sudden development has burnt a hole through the plan. The resultant frustration found reflection in Congress’s bitterness: “Nitish Kumar has committed political suicide by aligning with BJP. It is like choosing self-annihilation.”
This will be the fifth NDA coalition under Nitish who also has been CM twice in partnership with RJD and Congress and as the head of a JD(U) government. Besides, he also had a seven-day stint in 2000.
The day started on a hectic note. After JD(U) lawmakers met at the official residence of Nitish for an interaction with him, he, accompanied by party seniors Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Sanjay Kumar Jha, went to Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation. However, before that, PM Narendra Modi called to thank him for taking the decision.
Thereafter started the process for formation of the new NDA government. As BJP’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde said, his party’s lawmakers held their legislature party meeting at its state headquarters, where the formal decision was taken to extend support to Nitish. The lawmakers also went through the process of selecting Samrat Choudhary as leader of the House and Vijay Sinha as deputy leader.
However, the day’s developments in NDA were not as smooth as it appeared. The oath-taking was preceded by simmering differences within the Bihar NDA, for Nitish’s re-entry had upset their calculations regarding seat allotment to contest the LS elections, to start with.
Both Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD) president Upendra Kushwaha were miffed, while HAM(S) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi was made to fell in line on Saturday night itself. BJP president J P Nadda took Chirag in the loop in Delhi, assuring that his concerns on the number of LS seats would be addressed. Finally, both Chirag and Kushwaha went to Raj Bhavan.
Nitish, aware of “ rumours” that former JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’, the architect of the break-up with BJP, was unhappy with the dramatic turn of events, went to Raj Bhavan for the oath-taking accompanied by him. It gave the signal that all was well in JD(U).
Of the eight ministers who took oath on Sunday, there were two from Bhumihar caste and one Rajput, one each of Kurmi, Koeri and Yadav from the backward castes, one from the extremely backward caste (EBC) section and one from Dalit.
The ministers are Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Shrawan Kumar from JD(U), deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, as well as Prem Kumar from BJP, while Santosh Kumar Manjhi is from (HAM) and Sumit Singh, the lone Independent MLA.
Watch Breaking: Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for the 9th time
