Published 13:44 IST, November 15th 2020
Nitish Kumar elected NDA legislature party leader; to take oath as Bihar's CM on Monday
JDU chief Nitish Kumar has been elected as NDA legislature party leader and he will be meeting Governor Phagu Chauhan soon. Suspense on DyCM post continues
As the NDA leaders including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Bihar poll-in-charge of BJP Devendra Fadnavis met on Sunday, JDU chief Nitish Kumar has been elected as NDA legislature party leader and he will be meeting Governor Phagu Chauhan. Nitish Kumar is likely to take oath once again as CM on Monday, November 16. However, the suspense continues for the Deputy CM post in Bihar with a new name of Kameshwar Chaupal cropping up against incumbent Sushil Modi.
Earlier on Friday, leaders of all the four constituents of the NDA - Kumar's JD(U), BJP, HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party had met informally at 1, Anney Marg, the Chief Minister's official residence. After the cabinet meeting, which lasted barely 10 minutes, Kumar had told reporters that NDA will meet at 12:30 pm on Sunday, November 15 and all further decisions will be taken thereafter.
Decks were cleared on Friday for the formation of a new government in Bihar with Nitish Kumar, who is set to return as the chief minister, handing over to Governor Phagu Chauhan the resignation of his ministry and the recommendation to dissolve the state assembly. The Governor accepted the resignation and asked Kumar to continue as the caretaker Chief Minister till the new NDA government is sworn in.
Who will be Deputy CM?
BJP is expected to get the major portfolios as the party won 75 seats in the assembly compared to JDU's 43. One of the posts that is in talks ahead of the NDA meeting is that of Deputy Chief Minister. Capital Patna is abuzz with talks that Sushil Modi will not retain the position and a new face, and a long-time RSS-BJP functionary Kameshwar Chaupal will be appointed. When Republic Media Network spoke to Chaupal, he said that he will take up every work that will be given to him by his party.
"I don't know what is going on. I am not plotting anything, I haven't received any information so far. But I am a loyal karyakarta, I have always followed the instruction and have done all the work that was assigned to me. So yes whatever the leadership will decide, I will happily take up. I have not spoken to anyone, one thing is clear, that Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi are our leaders. As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, our leaders JP Nadda and Amit Shah have clarified that he will be the CM. As far as I am concerned, everyone is capable of all the roles here, whatever responsibility will be given to me, I will take up."
While Fadnavis said that everything is fine and an announcement will be made soon, BJP minister Prem Kumar said that the real picture will be out after the meeting.
Bihar Election Result 2020
The Bihar assembly elections results were declared around midnight on November 10-November 11, with the ruling coalition - NDA winning 125 in the 243-member assembly, against Mahagathbandhan's 110. Even as the contest remained neck and neck throughout the day, RJD under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, became the single largest party with 75 seats, followed by BJP's 74. While Chirag Paswan's LJP won one seat, it made a major dent in JDU's tally that has come down to 43 from 71 in 2015. The biggest clincher is Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM winning 5 seats and CPI-ML winning 12 seats. The other two left parties - CPI and CPI-M won two each. The other two alliance partners of NDA - HAM and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) won four seats each.
Updated 10:21 IST, November 16th 2020