Intense lobbying for Bihar Cabinet berths, JD (U), BJP both want Speaker's post

Intense lobbying is still on among NDA partners to finalise the allocation of cabinet berths and a consensus over the post of Assembly Speaker ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Bihar government, scheduled to take place in Patna on November 20.

Sources on Tuesday said efforts are on to evolve a consensus among NDA partners over the post of Assembly Speaker as both the BJP and the JD(U) are staking their claim to the post.

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.

Senior JD(U) leaders and BJP top brass are holding meetings in this regard in New Delhi, with the Speaker's post high on the agenda, along with the allocation of key ministerial portfolios, sources said.

Leaders of both parties that are considered as front-runners for the post of Speaker include JD(U)'s Vijay Choudhary and BJP's Prem Kumar, sources said.

The sources said the new cabinet will have five to six new faces from the main constituents of the NDA — the BJP and JD(U).

Umesh Singh Kushwaha, JD(U) chief of the state unit who won from the Mahnar assembly seat, is likely to be inducted in the new cabinet of Nitish Kumar, who will take oath as Bihar CM for a record 10th time on November 20.

Kumar will submit his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, as head of the outgoing government, on November 19, and the current assembly will be dissolved the same day (on Wednesday).

Both JD(U) and BJP will elect their Legislature Party leaders on November 19 respectively.

The NDA stormed to power in Bihar, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, with BJP bagging 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5 and RLM 4.

While JD(U) is all set to repeat its current ministers in the next cabinet, the BJP may bring some new faces, sources said.

Along with the JD(U) and the BJP, the smaller partners — Union minister Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV), Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM-S, and Upendra Kushwaha's RLM — will also be part of the new cabinet.

"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 and Nitish Kumar from JD(U) will take oath on November 20," a source said.

"We are looking forward to having greater representation in the new cabinet, compared with the last one in which our party had only 12 ministers. We want more berths in the cabinet because our tally has risen sharply since 2020, when we had less than 50 MLAs," JD(U) sources said.

The historic Gandhi Maidan, where the swearing-in ceremony will be held, has been closed to the general public until November 20. There is a complete ban on the entry of common people into the Gandhi Maidan till November 20, the Patna district administration said in a statement on Monday.

A large number of security personnel have been deployed as the swearing-in ceremony is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several top NDA leaders, including Union Home minister Amit Shah, Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, are expected to attend the event.