AMN / PATNA
The swearing in ceremony of the new JD (U)-BJP led government will take place at Rajbhavan in Patna this evening. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the leader of NDA Alliance in Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar at 5 pm. Eight other Ministers will also take oath with Mr. Kumar.
Earlier, Mr. Nitish Kumar submitted the letter of support of MLAs of his party, BJP and Hindustani Awam Morcha to the Governor. He staked the claim to form a new government of BJP-JD(U) with senior BJP leaders and its allies.
The political activities unfolded very fast in the State when the JD(U) President resigned as a Chief Minister after meeting Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in the morning. Mr. Kumar also recommended dissolving the present government and paving the way for a new BJP-JD(U) alliance in the State.
JD (U) President Nitish Kumar had said that everything with the RJD was not alright. Talking to the Media in Patna after his resignation Mr. Kumar said it was not in the interest of his Party to continue the Grand Alliance.
BJP National President JP Nadda is likely to be present during the ceremony. Earlier, a crucial meeting of BJP took place in Patna at the Party office. BJP MLAs unanimously adopted a resolution to form the NDA government in the State comprising BJP, JD(U) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).
BJP’s Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde announced that Samrat Chaudhary was elected as the Leader of the Legislative Party and Vijay Kumar Sinha as the Deputy Leader. This will be the record ninth time that JD (U) President Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of the State. Sources said at first the Cabinet is likely to remain of small size and it will be further expanded.
Mr. Kumar has support of 128 members of legislative assembly out of which 78 are from BJP and 45 from JD(U). Four members of Hindustani Awam Morcha and one independent are also supporting Nitish Kumar led government.
The CPI(ML) Liberation, which supported the Mahagathbandhan government from the outside, launched a blistering attack on Kumar, accusing him of “betrayal”. In an acerbic Facebook post, the party’s general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged that Kumar, “who has had the longest stint as CM”, will be used by the RSS-BJP combine “as its pawn”.
The 72-year-old leader indicated that he was not feeling happy with the way things were in the Mahagathbandhan in the state as well as the INDIA bloc that he helped take shape but which failed to adequately recognise his efforts.