Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar had a meeting with Governor Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar at the Raj Bhawan in Patna on June 28.
Mr. Kumar’s visit triggered speculations about Cabinet expansion in the State as the Congress party has been demanding two more berths in the Cabinet. Congress has 19 MLAs in the 243-member State Assembly.
Recently, when Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned from the Cabinet, JD(U) MLA from Sonbarsa in Saharsa district, Ratnesh Sada, took oath as Minister within 72 hours.
A demand for Cabinet expansion was recently raised by the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) partner Congress which has two members in the Cabinet but has been demanding two more berths. The State Congress president Akhilesh Singh, earlier, had categorically stated that Cabinet expansion would take place after the June 23 meeting of non-BJP Opposition parties in Patna and “two other party MLAs would be accommodated as Ministers”.
“Allies were allocated one Cabinet berth for five legislators. We have 19 and so have claimed four. The JD(U) has 45 MLAs and got 12 Ministers while Rashtriya Janata Dal [RJD] with 79 MLAs has 19 berths along with Speaker’s post”, a senior State Congress leader said.
CM Kumar’s Cabinet currently has 33 members against the prescribed limit of 36.
The ruling JD(U) has put the ball of Cabinet expansion in the court of ally RJD which, party sources told The Hindu, “is ready to give one berth to the Congress”. “We are ready to spare one berth to the Congress which already has two Ministers. But they are mounting pressure for two more berths,” said an RJD leader while adding, “After HAM(S) leader Suman’s resignation, the quota had gone to the JD(U) and they have already filled the berth with Mr. Sada. So we can spare only one seat for Congress. Now, the JD(U) should sort out the issue.”
On June 23, when non-BJP Opposition leaders met in Patna, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge too had enquired about Cabinet expansion with Mr. Kumar. He, in turn, had asked his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of RJD to look into it but State Congress president Singh intervened and cleared that the party wanted two more berths. A video of this conversation between leaders had also gone viral on social media.
JD(U) sources, though, told The Hindu that Mr. Kumar had assured Mr. Gandhi that Cabinet expansion would be done before the next meeting of Opposition leaders scheduled at Shimla tentatively between July 10-12. “It was regarding the issue of Cabinet expansion Mr. Kumar had gone today [Wednesday] to meet Governor Arlekar”, admitted a JD(U) leader close to Mr. Kumar who did not wish to reveal more.
Raj Bhawan sources said during their half-hour meeting, Mr. Kumar interacted with the Governor and also inspected Rajendra Mandapam where oath-taking ceremonies of Ministers usually take place. Construction work is currently under way at the Rajendra Mandapam inside Raj Bhawan and Mr. Kumar even instructed officials regarding this, said the Raj Bhawan source requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, State Congress sources said the two legislators “who will join the Cabinet will be from upper castes”. Names of Madan Mohan Jha, Ajit Sharma, Munna Tiwari and Sameer Singh are doing the rounds. Congress legislators Afaque Alam and Murari Lal Gautam are Ministers currently.
