NDA allies step up lobbying for cabinet berths ahead of Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in; Amit Shah lands in Patna a day early

Lobbying among National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies was still underway to finalise cabinet berths ahead of the formation of the new government and the oath-taking of Nitish Kumar as chief minister on Thursday.

Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar, who resigned as head of the outgoing NDA government on Wednesday, will take oath as chief minister for a record 10th time at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan today.

A host of top NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and chief ministers of various states, are expected to attend the ceremony.

Union Home Minister Shah arrived in Patna on Wednesday night, a day ahead of the swearing-in.

A consensus has been reached among NDA partners regarding the post of Assembly Speaker, with the BJP’s Prem Kumar likely to be appointed to the post, and the Deputy Speaker will be assigned to JD(U).

The new Cabinet will have five to six new faces from the main constituents of the NDA — the BJP and the JD(U), sources told news agency PTI.

Umesh Singh Kushwaha, JD(U) state chief who won from the Mahnar assembly seat, is likely to be inducted in the new Cabinet.

While the JD(U) is likely set to retain its current ministers, the BJP may bring in a few 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.

“The LJP (RV) is likely to get three berths in the new state cabinet while the HAM-S and RLM one berth each. A maximum of 16 ministers from the BJP and 14 ministers, along with CM Nitish Kumar from JD(U), will take oath 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.

Other probable inductees from JD(U) are Rahul Kumar Singh, Sudhanshu Shekhar, Kaladhar Prasad Mandal, and Panna Lal Singh Patel, sources said.

BJP sources said most ministers from the outgoing Cabinet will be retained, with the party 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.

Potential new faces from the BJP include former IPS officer Anand Mishra (elected from Buxar), Rana Randhir, Gayatri Devi, and Vijay Kumar Khemka, according to sources.