PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday assured CPI Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) leaders that a 'coordination committee' would soon be set up to ensure smooth functioning of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government in the state.
A CPI-ML(L) delegation led by its general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya met the CM at his residence here.
"Besides setting up of a 'coordination committee', the CM assured that a common minimum programme will be formulated to identify the focus areas, priorities, policies and programmes of the Mahagathbandhan government," Bhattacharya told PTI after the meeting.
The process to set up a 'coordination committee' and formulation of the common minimum programme will commence after the trust vote in the state assembly on August 24, the Left party leader said.
There were indications about formation of such a panel on Friday evening when MLAs of the CPI-ML(L), the fourth largest constituent of the Grand Alliance, called on the chief minister, the JD(U)'s de facto leader, at his residence.
"During our meeting with the CM, we made it clear that CPI-ML(L) will not join the new government, but our legislators will play an active role in the restructuring of several defunct commissions and strengthening of committees of the state assembly," Bhattacharya said.
The Left party leaders also discussed with the CM about the introduction of several reforms in land, education and agricultural sectors, he claimed.
"The CM was very positive and assured us that the Mahagathbandhan government will make all efforts to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people," Bhattacharya said.
Kumar's party had earlier kept pressing for a coordination committee for while in the BJP-led NDA.
"The chief minister was strongly in favour of a coordination panel and we felt the same. No ally is likely to have any objection. It may, therefore, come up in due course," CPI-ML (L) MLA Sandeep Saurav told PTI.
The Grand Alliance at present comprises seven parties, JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM, which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong assembly.
Besides the 12-MLA-strong CPI-ML (L), CPI and CPI(M), which have two MLAs each, have decided to extend outside support to the government.
Bhattacharya also attended CPI-ML(L)'s state committee meeting here during the day.
Explaining the party's decision to support the new "Mahagathbandhan" government from outside, he said, "Joining the cabinet is not a priority for us. As a mass-movement party, we want to be the voice of people in the government and a part of the government's policy-making."
Bhattacharya had on August 10, the day Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of the Grand Alliance government in the state, said his party would propose that "a common minimum programme be made besides a coordination committee and monitoring mechanism".
Notably, while the JD(U) and the BJP were still in an acrimonious tie-up, many leaders of the former had stressed the need for a coordination committee which was in place during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time with George Fernandes as its convenor.
JD(U) leaders were of the view that the absence of such a committee left different constituents with no platform to voice their divergent opinions before each other and hence they ended up doing so in the media, leading to deterioration in relations.
Though the BJP seems firmly in the saddle with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, the NDA is in tatters, with most of its prominent constituents including TDP, Shiv Sena and Siromani Akali Dal, now out of the coalition.
Moreover, the setting up of such a committee seems to be noteworthy as the Grand Alliance, at present limited to Bihar, may evolve into a formation with wider appeal across several other states.
Kumar has expressed his intention to work for a united opposition to take on the BJP's hegemony.
To this end, the chief minister is also expected to visit New Delhi next week, shortly after the expansion of his cabinet.
In the national capital, Kumar is likely to meet top opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, said sources close to him.