Following the result of the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the focus has shifted to Patna for government formation. Throughout the campaign, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) made it clear that Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister if the coalition retained power.
On November 12, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s sought to clarify that Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister despite the JD(U) winning fewer seats. The clarification came amid calls from within the party to have a chief minister from the BJP.
The BJP won 74 seats in the new Legislative Assembly and became the largest NDA constituent in the state. The JD(U) managed to win 43 seats.
Also read: BJP powers NDA, Left’s resurgence and other key takeaways
Thus, political observers say that the BJP will now play a ‘big brother’ role in the NDA at the state-level too. With that, the saffron party is expected to get a lion’s share of berths in the state Cabinet even though it will be headed by Nitish Kumar.
“It is quite natural that a party with a bigger number will proportionately get more ministers. So that is what can be expected here also,” a senior JD(U) leader told ThePrint.
With this, the JD(U) would also lose some of the plum portfolios. In the outgoing Cabinet, the JD(U) and BJP had 17 and 12 ministers, respectively. The BJP also had the Deputy Chief Minister’s position, which they are likely to retain.
The BJP had ministries such as finance, information technology, agriculture, road construction, revenue and health, which the party would look to retain. They would seek additional portfolios to accommodate new faces in the Cabinet at the expense of sitting JD(U) ministers.
At the same time, the BJP reportedly does not want to be seen as pushing its allies too hard. It has lost two of its longest partnerships – with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab – over the last year. Incidentally, there is only one non-BJP minister in the Union Cabinet right now – Ramdas Athawale.
Also read: How BJP’s performance may impact 2021 West Bengal assembly polls
The party is dealing with its allies cautiously as it heads into five assembly elections in April-May 2021. It is hoping to contest the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections along with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
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