Portfolio Sharing Formula Revealed: How Many Ministries Will NDA Allies Get?

New Delhi: As NDA allies eye for plum posts in the cabinet, Republic has now accessed the NDA portfolio sharing formula which says that a party will be given one cabinet berth for every five MPs and an MoS position for every 2 MPs. BJP national chief JP Nadda has communicated officially to all NDA partners, including TDP, JDU and LJP among others, on the portfolio-sharing formula. For example, TDP will be given three ministerial berths as they have 16 MPs. In JDU's case, which has 12 MPs, two ministerial berths will be given and for the extra two seats, one Minister Of State (MoS) post will be given. 

The decision was taken at JP Nadda's residence where senior party leaders like Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal, Amit Shah, Prahlad Joshi, Mansukh Mandaviya and BJP general secretaries, including Vinod Tawde, were present. Now, it is to be seen whether the NDA allies, who have their specific set of demands when it comes to the ministries, will accept BJP's proposal. Hectic parleys are underway in both the JDU and TDP camps over posts. It is understood that both JDU and TDP have staked their claim to the crucial Speaker's post which the BJP is unwilling to let go of.

Among the tall list of demands made by NDA allies, JDU has asked the BJP to take a relook at the Agniveer scheme and a Special Category Status (SCS) for Bihar. Apart from SCS, TDP has asked for the Speaker's post and two cabinet berths while the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena has batted for one cabinet berth and two MoS posts.

Meanwhile, Chirag Paswan's LJP has asked for one cabinet berth and one MoS post and Jitan Ram Majhi's HAM has asked for one cabinet berth. According to our sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet will be taking oath alongside him during the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.

While the BJP has stated clearly that it will be holding on to key ministries like Home, MEA, Defence and Finance, it is learnt that Nitish wants the Rail Ministry for his party.