Nitish Kumar has a packed schedule ahead of his swearing-in on Thursday. While the Chief Minister oversees preparations for the 11am ceremony at Patna's Gandhi Maidan, his Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party are hammering out the tough details on cabinet portfolios and the Speaker's post.
Thursday’s ceremony is expected to draw a big political crowd. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are likely to attend, along with several Union ministers and chief ministers from NDA-ruled states. Shah is scheduled to arrive in Patna on Wednesday evening, and the final list of attending CMs will be confirmed after that.
The NDA achieved a landslide victory in the Bihar elections, securing 202 seats in the 243-member assembly. The BJP bagged 89 seats, JD(U) won 85, LJP (Ram Vilas) got 19, HAM(S) picked up five, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha secured four.
Home Ministry Becomes Flashpoint
Both JD(U) and the BJP are staying quiet on the portfolio split, but the talks are clearly heated. Amit Shah held a three-hour meeting in Delhi on Tuesday with BJP president JP Nadda, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha, and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh to work through the details.
Bihar can have 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister, based on the constitutional limit of 15% of the assembly strength. The home portfolio has become a sticking point. JD(U) controlled it in the last government, but the BJP now wants it. Education is another contested ministry that was previously with JD(U).
The Speaker's position is also up for grabs. BJP wants Prem Kumar in the chair, while JD(U) is pushing for Vijay Chowdhary. Last term, BJP's Nand Kishore Yadav was Speaker and JD(U)'s Narendra Narayan Yadav served as Deputy Speaker.
Splitting The Ministerial Pie
Party sources quoted by HT said they're using a formula of roughly one minister per six MLAs. The smaller partners, RLM and HAM(S), will likely get one berth each. LJP(RV) is expected to receive three positions. That leaves about 30-31 ministries to split between BJP and JD(U), which is where most of the bargaining is happening right now.
As per HT, one alliance leader said the big picture issues are settled, meaning the talks are now about working out the specific portfolio allocations before Thursday's ceremony launches Nitish Kumar's 10th term as Bihar's Chief Minister.
